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The International Space Station Gets Internet Access
Next up: Minnesota!
NASA last week announced that astronauts aboard the International Space Station now officially have Internet access for personal use. Last mile fiber deployment was just a tad pricey and impractical, so the space station was connected to the tracking and data relay satellite network, which in turn is connected, via Ku-band satellite, to a broadband-enabled PC on the ground. Astronaut Timothy (TJ) Creamer has been using the new connection to tweet from space, answering user questions about the station (and his dining habits). Now that we've conquered delivering broadband to space, perhaps we can get to work on delivering broadband to places like Minnesota?
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fifty nine
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ

1 recommendation

fifty nine

Member

Great, now no work gets done. ;)

Just like every other internet connected workplace... heh heh

burgerwars
join:2004-09-11
Northridge, CA

2 edits

burgerwars

Member

Re: Do they now get VOIP?

If they're also subscribing to a service like Vonage, I'll give them a call. Anyone know their phone number?

Also, if one of the ISS astronauts is busted for NASA's internet use policy (like no p0rn sites), I would hate to be the first astronaut to be immediately shown the door while still up there.

ropeguru
Premium Member
join:2001-01-25
Mechanicsville, VA

1 edit

1 recommendation

ropeguru

Premium Member

Re: Do they now get VOIP?

said by burgerwars:

If they're also subscribing to a service like Vonage, I'll give them a call. Anyone know their phone number?
1-800-HAL-9000

baineschile
2600 ways to live
Premium Member
join:2008-05-10
Sterling Heights, MI

baineschile to fifty nine

Premium Member

to fifty nine

Re: Great, now no work gets done. ;)

can we get some speedtests from them?
gorehound
join:2009-06-19
Portland, ME

gorehound to fifty nine

Member

to fifty nine
wonder if they will download music and have the riaa after them too.

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium Member
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK

KrK

Premium Member

Re: Great, now no work gets done. ;)

Can't. They need the bandwidth to play WoW.

ptrowski
Got Helix?
Premium Member
join:2005-03-14
Woodstock, CT

ptrowski

Premium Member

Minnesota....the final frontier!

I guess that is the updated phrase.

AlfredNewman
@chase.com

AlfredNewman

Anon

I wonder...

since all the internet data gets filtered if they'll get caught surfing for pr0n and where you go for a little "alone time".

Duramax08
To The Moon
Premium Member
join:2008-08-03
San Antonio, TX

1 recommendation

Duramax08

Premium Member

FAP?

Hope they stay under that FAP

Pullo9
join:2009-06-18
Reading, PA

Pullo9

Member

Monthly Cap?

Whats the monthly download cap and will NASA use parental controls to keep them from watching porn?
MaynardKrebs
We did it. We heaved Steve. Yipee.
Premium Member
join:2009-06-17

MaynardKrebs

Premium Member

I wonder what their T&C's look like

I'll bet the terrestrial ISP leg caps & throttles worse than the satellite link.

SteveLV702
Premium Member
join:2004-04-22
Las Vegas, NV

SteveLV702

Premium Member

no file sharing

now no file sharing or the RIAA will have NASA disconnect your internet service and sue you..

N3OGH
Yo Soy Col. "Bat" Guano
Premium Member
join:2003-11-11
Philly burbs

1 recommendation

N3OGH

Premium Member

Re: no file sharing

Just how do you send a disconnect letter to the ISS?
33358088 (banned)
join:2008-09-23

33358088 (banned)

Member

Re: no file sharing

hey how about we all remove the mail boxes and such
HAHA
cant deliver it SCREW YOU

SteveLV702
Premium Member
join:2004-04-22
Las Vegas, NV

SteveLV702 to N3OGH

Premium Member

to N3OGH
said by N3OGH:

Just how do you send a disconnect letter to the ISS?
They send a mail man in the next shuttle to go there

DarkLogix
Texan and Proud
Premium Member
join:2008-10-23
Baytown, TX

DarkLogix

Premium Member

Re: no file sharing

LOL

I'd like to see that

Bink63
Namedrop THIS
Premium Member
join:2002-10-06
Everywhere

Bink63 to N3OGH

Premium Member

to N3OGH
said by N3OGH:

Just how do you send a disconnect letter to the ISS?
Air Mail!

SteveLV702
Premium Member
join:2004-04-22
Las Vegas, NV

SteveLV702

Premium Member

or better yet with some of the stuff RIAA gets away with will just have NASA terminate him from the Space Program and bring him home and the mail main will be there waiting with his Certified Letter at that tar mate
Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL

Joe12345678 to SteveLV702

Member

to SteveLV702
said by SteveLV702:

now no file sharing or the RIAA will have NASA disconnect your internet service and sue you..
They can get new movies uploaded to the on board sever and other tv shows and NASA does that for them

SteveLV702
Premium Member
join:2004-04-22
Las Vegas, NV

SteveLV702

Premium Member

Re: no file sharing

said by Joe12345678:

said by SteveLV702:

now no file sharing or the RIAA will have NASA disconnect your internet service and sue you..
They can get new movies uploaded to the on board sever and other tv shows and NASA does that for them
Yes I was being sarcastic

SpaethCo
Digital Plumber
MVM
join:2001-04-21
Minneapolis, MN

1 edit

SpaethCo

MVM

You know what's 20 miles east of St Cloud?

All kinds of farmland where you can put a plane down in an emergency.
said by Karl Bode:

Now that we've conquered delivering broadband to space, perhaps we can get to work on delivering broadband to places like Minnesota?
In the metro area you have Qwest DSL or Centurylink DSL (depending on your location), Comcast HSI, Nextera fixed wireless, and muni wifi run by USInternet.

You can get broadband in rural MN the same way they got broadband in space; point a dish at a satellite.

Duramax08
To The Moon
Premium Member
join:2008-08-03
San Antonio, TX

Duramax08

Premium Member

Re: You know what's 20 miles east of St Cloud?

I would rather have dialup then satellite TBH.
jfmezei
Premium Member
join:2007-01-03
Pointe-Claire, QC

jfmezei

Premium Member

It's access to a PC which has access to the internet

From what I have read, this is not a connection to the internet. They have a VNC type of connection to view/control a PC in Houston, and that PC is connected to the internet.

Not sure how bad latency is when doing such work. Also, they do not have TDRS coverage 7/24, so there are periods where they don't have "live" access to that PC.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: It's access to a PC which has access to the internet

according to NASA that is how it is set up.

burgerwars
join:2004-09-11
Northridge, CA

burgerwars to jfmezei

Member

to jfmezei
So it's a remote desktop. That's no fun. There goes my idea of calling them on VOIP.

fifty nine
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ

1 edit

fifty nine

Member

Re: It's access to a PC which has access to the internet

You can call them on ham radio. I've spoken to the ISS a couple of times and they also set up scheduled contacts (skeds) with schools.

milnoc
join:2001-03-05
Ottawa

milnoc to jfmezei

Member

to jfmezei
Too bad. If they had true Internet access from the ISS, they could have tested the feasibility of using P2P software to transfer huge amounts of research data quickly and reliably.

BACONATOR26
Premium Member
join:2000-11-25
Nepean, ON

BACONATOR26 to jfmezei

Premium Member

to jfmezei
I hope it's not the VNC. Many others work so much better in a poor bandwidth siltation. I thought they had actual laptops or something though.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5 to jfmezei

Premium Member

to jfmezei
said by jfmezei:

From what I have read, this is not a connection to the internet. They have a VNC type of connection to view/control a PC in Houston, and that PC is connected to the internet.

Not sure how bad latency is when doing such work. Also, they do not have TDRS coverage 7/24, so there are periods where they don't have "live" access to that PC.
Yes, this isn't really Broadband to the ISS. The PC at NASA has broadband, but the ISS has a data link to that PC that the story doesn't tell us what the real speed is.
JJV
Premium Member
join:2001-04-25
Seattle, WA

JJV

Premium Member

The International Space Station Gets A Virus!


That will be next weeks headline.
AstroBoy
join:2008-08-08
Parkville, MD

AstroBoy

Member

Re: The International Space Station Gets A Virus!

After that, ISS gets netFlix!
dforan
join:2000-12-09
Willoughby, OH

dforan

Member

The International Space Station Gets Internet Access


Hey AT&T U-verse lookie this It stops 3 houses away from my home...

Right now I am not sure who is worse.. AT&T or T/W and their constant rebooting of the Set top boxes saying they have a problem with the DVR's ---- Drat I told I do not have a DVR so why am I getting rebooted.. Cause they can. They want to share the outage evenly

chilly_bob
@mcleodusa.net

chilly_bob

Anon

Use must be livin in the N woods...

even Little House on the Prairie has broadband now.

•••
fiberguy2
My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20

fiberguy2

Premium Member

Ummmmm... MN... Really?

Karl.. you smoking bong water again or something???

Um... MN actually has pretty damn good coverage compared to MANY places out there.. so, um, yea.. .Why you bringing up MN? How about CT,.. NH.... and others in the NE?

Comcast has HSI service in areas that you wouldn't even think people lived... 20 miles out of town, down unpaved dirt roads, there's peds in the middle of fields.. Qwest is pretty good.. there are microwave services here.. some Fiber farms... and yea.. in many rural areas..

••••

cpsycho
join:2008-06-03
Treadeu Land

cpsycho

Member

Common...

Get rid of the RDP and run some nice fiber to the station via a space tether(elevator).

•••

PolakPola
Premium Member
join:2001-12-17
Thornwood, NY

PolakPola

Premium Member

Do they have a webcam?

They should leave it on 24/7 so we can watch them:)

mikedz4
join:2003-04-14
Weirton, WV

mikedz4

Member

do they....?

Maybe they can do live shows for $1 a minute. Space sex can't be had anywhere else but here!!!!
Then again other sites could file a lawsuit claiming they have a monopoly on the market.
elito
join:2007-10-15
Brooklyn, NY

elito

Member

*=T

only a matter of time till the ISS get's hacked now. great.