In terms of speed, the connection available to the ISS is comparable to that of ancient modems. Moreover, although the satellite’s downlink is as broad as 300 mbps, the uplink is limited to 25 mbps. The same satellite link enables audio and video conferencing with Earth for the ISS residents.Īs a result, only a small fraction of the bandwidth can be used for tweets and browsing. They also use it to stream lots of scientific data and video content (which their colleagues on the ground broadcast to the Internet for users to follow life onboard the ISS and the views from it) to the mission control center. In addition to that, astronauts need the satellite link available to them for more than just the Web. According to a NASA employee, data exchange with the ISS has a transmission latency of about half a second - about 20 times that of the average cable connection. So, the total distance covered by data from onboard the ISS and the response signal sent back to it is just short of 150,000 kilometers, or close to 100,000 miles. Only from there can it go downward to a ground space communication station. First, the ISS sends the signal upward, to a relay satellite flying as high as 35,786 km (22,000 miles) above the ground. High ping, low speedĮven though the ISS is orbiting at an elevation of some 400 km (about 250 miles), the data covers a much longer distance to reach Earth. Satellite communications have advantages over wired technologies - such as being available in places where cables cannot be used, obviously - but also challenges. Of course, the Internet they have on the ISS is not nearly as fast and delay-free as what you have at home. Last year, cosmonauts Alexander Misurkin and Anton Shkaplerov made an upgrade to the ISS antenna so it could receive large volumes of satellite data, while at the same time setting a Russian record for extravehicular work duration - 8 hours and 12 minutes.Īccording to Sergey Krikalev, cosmonaut and Roscosmos spokesperson, the new equipment has already been tested, so the ISS will soon get online through Luch satellites. The task will be implemented using a network of Luch relay satellites, which is currently undergoing an upgrade. It seems the ISS will soon have more than one Internet provider: Russia plans on getting its segment of the station hooked up soon enough, too. Hello Twitterverse! We r now LIVE tweeting from the International Space Station - the 1st live tweet from Space! :) More soon, send your ?s Creamer honored the arrival of the Web on the ISS by posting the first ever unassisted tweet from space: It is safer that way: even if a malicious link or file is opened by an ISS crew member, only the ground computer will be compromised. The astronauts use a satellite link to connect to a computer in Houston in remote desktop mode, and get online from there. The International Space Station crew accessed the Web for the first time back in 2010. This post is about how it works now and how it will develop. The space Web is not all about work, either it helps people far away from mother Earth keep in touch with their homes. Space exploration agencies are getting ready to move on and get other planets in our solar system connected. Being online onboard an airplane is already old hat, and even the International Space Station has a connection to the Web. KasperskyPremium Support and Professional Servicesīy now, the Internet has reached basically all corners of the Earth - and not just its surface.Kaspersky Anti Targeted Attack Platform.KasperskyEndpoint Security for Business Advanced.KasperskyEndpoint Security for Business Select.
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