Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Whatever Happened To The Mars Network?

Posted by timothy on from the blast-from-the-recent-past dept.

mhw25 writes "There is a NASA/JPL project, conceptualised back in 1999, that proposed to launch a Mars Network. It boldly projected that "Deployment of a prototype Microsat, tentatively scheduled for 2003, would be the first step in creating this Mars "Internet."" With 2003 drawing to a close and no .mars domain registration offered, perhaps it is time NASA and other space agencies to rethink and revisit this worthy project, especially in light of the recent problems faced by the Beagle2."

2 of 21 comments (clear)

  1. Latency...? by skinfitz · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Using regular satellite gear with a sat in geostationary orbit over Germany from the UK I see latency in the realm of 2500ms - 5000ms.

    If it's 9 minutes from Mars to Earth then we will be looking at 540000ms !!

    I wouldn't fancy running a Windows Update over that.

    1. Re:Latency...? by Tumbleweed · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Windows Update wouldn't be that big of a problem - that's more of a bandwidth intensive operation.

      But in gaming, you'd be the Ultimate High Ping Bastard! w00t!