Future-Proofing the Solar System Internet with 'DTN'

Communicating from Earth to any spacecraft is a complex challenge, largely due to the extreme distances involved. NASA  looks to Delay/Disruption Tolerant Networking (DTN) to help communicate with satellites and spacecraft over these distances. Unlike computer-to-computer IP connection, DNT bundles data and transmits as many bundles as it can when a communication path opens. If a bundle fails to transmit, it goes into storage and waits for the next communication path to open before sending. If the bundles were all part of a single file, the file can be reassembled at the final destination. The DTN protocol suite is being developed by the NASA Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) DTN Project.

Transcript

00:00:00 There's no Wi-Fi router in the world that could reach all the way to Mars. How then, could humanity maintain an interplanetary internet? NASA looks to Disruption Tolerant Networking for a solution. Space communications depend on connections over great distances, often obscured

00:00:20 as spacecraft move in and out of Earth's view. With DTN, NASA can store data at points along the data's route. If the flow of data reaches a point without a connection, information is saved until a connection becomes available. This technology can extend the network experience, one day connecting

00:00:41 Earth to the far reaches of the solar system. In a recent demonstration of the technology NASA sent a selfie from Antarctica to the space station, making numerous stops along the way. This demonstration showed how NASA's communications engineers are future-proofing the networks of tomorrow, ensuring that one day the interplanetary

00:01:01 internet can become a reality.