IT In Space

 

               IT In Space

If space has always been an enigma for mankind, then the moon has always served as the first post for any attempt at understanding or exploring deeper space.

All ventures into outer space, ranging from exploratory fly-bys to managed flights, have first been tried out of the moon. Like in most other areas, space research is also moving into larger-scale simulations using powerful computers . in fact given the high cost , and often the impracticability of conducting live experiments, space research had moved into computer-based simulation long before most other streams.

Everything from flight paths of futer rockets to the theories on the origin of the universe and its evolution are today computer simulated.consider the case of the magnetic file around a planet. Like with everything else in space research . let take the moon as our example the moon’s magnetic field is very feeble when compared to that of the earth. Also unlike on the earth, it varies widely from point to point. This much is known from the measurements taken by spacecraft that flew by or landed on the moon.

THE INTERNET ON MARS

The internet is slated to go over and above this world, the first target being mars, to be followed by Jupiter and its moon, europa.

This idea of talking the internet to the space comes from the need for a low cast and high reliability inter planetary network. It is not that there was no communication earlier. when Countries started sending probes into the space,each used a unique set of protocols to communicate with the earth. This was done using the deep space network(DSN) developed by NASA. Since these probes communicated with same ground station, the need for common protocol increased with time. Taking the internet to space is the offshoot of this need for standardization. The inter planetary network(IPN),a part of jet Propulsion Laboratory(JPL),is managing this program.

But how will this be implemented? One can plan how the internet will work on the earth because of its fixed size and the fixed positions on which the data has to travel. Now, for the implementation on the planets will be connected through individual dedicated getways. The individual networks can follow their own protocols,but these protocols will end at the gateway. By keeping the internets of all the planets separate,engineers will not have to make long service calls. Besides they will not have to send a database of 20-million dotcom names to mars periodically

These gateways will work on a bundle based protocol, which will reside over the transport layer to carry data from one gateway to another. This gateway may not be on the surface of a planetary body;it can be a spacecraft in orbit,too.At at the moment a bundle protocol will be needed because the data will need to travel huge distances,and sending small packets of data may not be feasible. Instead, this data will be collected and sent in a bundle, as a big burst of data,to the next gateway.