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Interplanetary Network (IPN) Tested

Posted by michael on from the token-ring dept.

CETS writes "Slim on detail but...USA Today reports of the first test of an Interplanetary Network. 'In a sign of cosmic communications to come, last week mission controllers sent signals to a Mars-orbiting European spacecraft, which relayed the instructions to NASA's Spirit rover on the surface, and a signal was returned to Earth back along the same path.'" NASA also has a press release.

27 of 138 comments (clear)

  1. Really bad pun - let's get it out of the way now by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
    Who's going to be the first to finger Uranus?

    Go ahead - mod this troll... :-)

  2. lag by da2 · · Score: 1, Funny

    yeah but i wouldnt want to play quake/unreal tournement etc over the link

    1. Re:lag by jo_ham · · Score: 2, Funny

      Oh, I don't know.

      You could go up against godlike railers without dying - assuming you were on the server end of the link.

      Plus, you could play Quake III on an 8086 system - the connection would just about keep pace with the slideshow frame rate. you'd just have to be patient!

    2. Re:lag by FrancisR · · Score: 2, Funny

      But at least you'll have an excuse to blame lag everytime you die.

  3. Re:Really bad pun - let's get it out of the way no by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Does that come before or after pinging the Mons Venus?

  4. Try to catch me now... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Hey, what is stopping us from using this as a proxy server? Could you just imagine the guy looking at where the signal is coming from? Hehe...

  5. Slashdotting Mars? by Big+Nothing · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm looking forward to the day we can slashdot a website on another planet.

    --
    SIG: TAKE OFF EVERY 'CAPTAIN'!!
    1. Re:Slashdotting Mars? by Jameth · · Score: 2, Funny

      I'm looking forward to the day we can slashdot the entire other planet.

  6. With number of planets and stars out there... by SharpFang · · Score: 4, Funny

    they just MUST use IPv6

    --
    45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
  7. What about subspace? by zonix · · Score: 4, Funny

    Wouldn't it be much faster to use a subspace frequency?

    z
    --
    What would an EWOULDBLOCK block, if an EWOULDBLOCK could block would? -- me
    1. Re:What about subspace? by Scoria · · Score: 5, Funny

      No, Wesley. Now rub my bald head.

      --
      Do you like German cars?
  8. more network acronyms? by berkut1337 · · Score: 2, Funny

    let's see, we already have: PAN: Personal Area Network LAN: Local Area Network SAN: Storage Area Network WLAN: Wireless Local Area Network WAN: Wide Area Network MAN: Metro-something Area Network and now: IPN: Interplanetary Network can anyone add any more?

    1. Re:more network acronyms? by Cap'nCrunk · · Score: 3, Funny

      UPN: Unbearable Programming Network

    2. Re:more network acronyms? by FrostedWheat · · Score: 3, Funny

      ISN: Inter-Stellar Network

      For all the latest fair and balanced news from the Bu.. Clarke government.

    3. Re:more network acronyms? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      ok.. I'll byte.. ISN = Interstellar Network????

  9. oops by berkut1337 · · Score: 4, Funny

    let's see, we already have:

    PAN: Personal Area Network
    LAN: Local Area Network
    SAN: Storage Area Network
    WLAN: Wireless Local Area Network
    WAN: Wide Area Network
    MAN: Metro-something Area Network
    and now:
    IPN: Interplanetary Network

    can anyone add any more?

    1. Re:oops by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
      WOMAN - completely undecipherable network.

      Now I just hope that I remember to post this as AC ...

  10. See naked little green women at SpiritRover.com by BenJeremy · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...Yeah, I told my wife I meant to type SpiritRover.org - Doh!

  11. Where's the redundant link! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Damnit, two space agency and hundred of million of dollars and they don't have a redundant link? What happens when some backhoe disrupts the signal? Stupid rocket scientists...

  12. Things we can look forward to by cyranoVR · · Score: 4, Funny

    Martian Email Scam ("my recently deposed president Marvin...")

    Movie hax0rz routing their connection "through Mars" to avoid detection

    RIAA supoenas Spirit rover

  13. Re:Latency! by FannyMinstrel · · Score: 2, Funny

    So that you still get the pings after the Martians intercept the data stream, duh. :)

  14. Re:Not really by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    "The really big advantage of this is they'll be able to command the rovers in near-realtime"

    Because of the lag. By the time you see the canyon ahead, the rover is already lying burning on the canyon bead.

  15. Re:Communications Relays by wfberg · · Score: 2, Funny

    Even there they had to cheat a bit, by doing the beam-forming for the phased array multiple access antenna on the ground instead of on the TDRS spacecraft.

    I'll admit my ignorance, to me this sounds a bit like "they had to split the dylithium crystal array into a 4 dimensional plexus to feed the antimatter containment tubes"..

    Perhaps you could elaborate a bit foor poor souls like me?

    --
    SCO employee? Check out the bounty
  16. In the future we will have ... by Sindri · · Score: 2, Funny

    IGN: Intergalactic Network

    IDN: Interdimensional Network

    SSN: Subspace Network (where Picard browses for pr0n)

    IBN: Interbrain Network (ala Borg)
    ... etc. ...

    --
    Sindri Traustason.
  17. Re:Really bad pun - let's get it out of the way no by gertsenl · · Score: 5, Funny
    What I want to know is, did they store a hard copy of their public key fingerprint on the spacecraft and rover?

    You know, to prevent a Little Green Man-in-the-Middle Attack?

    --
    --Leo
  18. Re:IPN not like TCP/IP by WeblionX · · Score: 2, Funny

    So it uses UDP? Hey, the perfect gaming network!

    (Yes, I know about lag.)

    --
    (\(\
    (=_=) Bani!
    (")")
  19. I snooped mars IP traffic....... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    And following a deep analysis of the data in the packets I am able to anounce that there **is** life on mars.

    Whatsmore it is in desperate need of Viagra, likes young teens and thier horses, and interest rates up there are the lowwest ever.

    No sign of intelligence however.