Astronauts Finally Get Internet Access

[neufer]

Astronauts Finally Get Internet Access in Space
By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. January 22, 2010 (AP)

<<In a high-tech first — really, really high — astronauts in space finally have Internet access.

Space station resident Timothy Creamer has been working with flight controllers to establish Internet access from his orbital post ever since he moved in last month. On Friday, his effort paid off. He posted the first live tweet truly from space. "Hello Twitterverse!" he wrote. Before, astronauts had to send Twitter updates by e-mail to Mission Control in Houston. Then controllers posted the tweets.

The International Space Station crew can now use an on-board laptop
to see a desktop computer at Mission Control, and thereby browse the Web.>>

But there are three more Shuttle Flights scheduled :

Code: Select all

May 14, 2010 	Atlantis 	Last planned Atlantis flight; STS-132
July 29, 2010 	Endeavour 	Last planned Endeavour flight; STS-134
September 16, 2010 	Discovery 	Last planned Discovery flight;
...   last planned flight of the Space Shuttle program; STS-133

What if they should over shoot CAPE CANAVERAL by 150 miles
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_ ... Flight_188

[geckzilla]

It's really strange that they were able to email mission control but had no internet access... I think the story is deficient in its technical correctness.

[neufer]

It's really strange that they were able to email mission control but had no internet access...
I think the story is deficient in its technical correctness.

I'm pretty sure that they have been using snail mail.

[geckzilla]

Through rain or snow or vacuum of space?

[geckzilla]

I'm actually very interested in how the space station is linked to earth. I have just about no understanding of it at all other than that there are satellite relays in geosynchronous orbit sending data back to NASA. I get that part. But what does an astronaut actually see on that computer screen when typing a so-called "email" back to earth?

And my issue about the use of the word "email" is that to me it implies that it went through a mail server using SMTP rather than sending data packets back and forth through some other means. I mean, I just don't imagine bob.the.astronaut@nasa.gov sending email to houston@nasa.gov which is what the word "email" conjures in my mind. Of course, maybe I am being too strict about the use of the word. Somehow details are difficult to find.

All that aside, I never got into the whole Twitter thing. There's someone who got to it and started using my handle before I even knew about the website. Who would want to use a name as dumb as "geckzilla"?

[neufer]

I never got into the whole Twitter thing. There's someone who got to it and started using my handle before I even knew about the website. Who would want to use a name as dumb as "geckzilla"?

Toho Studios will be coming after all of you guys...and it won't be pretty

*GECK*, n. [D. gek fool, fop; akin to G. *GECK*; cf. Icel. gikkr a pert, rude person.]
1. Scorn, derision, or contempt. [Prov. Eng.]
2. An object of scorn; a dupe; a gull. [Obs.]
.................................................

• Cymbeline > Act V, scene IV
  
  Sicilius Leonatus: To become the *GECK* and scorn
  . O' th' other's villany?
  
  Twelfth Night > Act V, scene I
  
  MALVOLIO: Why have you suffer'd me to be imprison'd,
  . Kept in a dark house, visited by the priest,
  . And made the most notorious *GECK* and gull
  . That e'er invention play'd on? tell me why.

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<<"-ZILLA" is an English suffix, a back-formation derived from the Japanese movie character GodZILLA. It is popular for the names of software and websites. This trend has been observed since the popularization of the MoZILLA Project, which itself included the Internet Relay Chat client ChatZILLA. The use of the suffix was contested by Toho, owners of the trademark GodZILLA, in a lawsuit against the website DaveZILLA and also against Sears for their mark BagZILLA.>>

<<ZILLA (ジラ) is Toho Studio's official name for the titular creature of the 1998 American film. ZILLA is a giant mutated iguana originating from a nuclear test in French Polynesia. He swam from the islands across the Pacific, attacking a Japanese freighter, and then stomped across Panama. He then stomped through New York, necessitating the evacuation of the entire city. The military battled him extensively, and supposedly killed him in the East River. However, he had laid at least a hundred eggs in Madison Square Garden, which hatched and filled the Garden with hundreds of baby ZILLAs.>>

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[geckzilla]

And here I thought "zilla" was just our silly western way of romanizing the original Japanese word. "Gojira" is a closer pronunciation. Maybe they should have trademarked "jira" instead.

[Chris Peterson]

And my issue about the use of the word "email" is that to me it implies that it went through a mail server using SMTP rather than sending data packets back and forth through some other means.

That is just a specific case. I certainly remember using email systems that didn't use the SMTP protocol- and we still called it email (or e-mail, or E-mail...)

That said, I expect that much of the data transfer between the ISS and ground uses the IP protocol, which also means they may use SMTP for their mail protocol. That doesn't mean that they must have Internet access, however. They may simply be part of an intranet. On such systems you can send email within the system (or use other services), but that email has no way to get to the Internet.

For security reasons, they might still not be fully Internet connected, but are accessing it in a controlled way via some sort of ground-based gateway services.

[geckzilla]

I wonder what the delay was in getting them hooked up to a remote desktop then? I wonder if anyone could point a dish at the satellite and intercept ISS data.

Hm, somehow that got me thinking of those intercepted spy drone data which led me wonder if the ISS is on any terrorists' target wish list. It would be rather impressive if anyone were even able to attempt it. I guess they aren't going to be building a long range missile anytime soon. It wouldn't take a huge payload to be fatal, though.

How's that for digression?

[Chris Peterson]

I wonder what the delay was in getting them hooked up to a remote desktop then? I wonder if anyone could point a dish at the satellite and intercept ISS data.

The method they used does suggest that the ISS has no direct Internet connection. They could easily make a remote connection to the desktop of a computer on their intranet (using VNC, for example). The remote computer would have Internet access, but the ISS computer need not. I've done just that on my own network.

Whether you could readily intercept ISS radio traffic depends on how directed their antennas are. Whether you could do anything with the signal depends on what sort of encryption they use.

[rstevenson]

Hm, somehow that got me thinking of those intercepted spy drone data which led me wonder if the ISS is on any terrorists' target wish list. ...

There are so many soft targets here on planet Earth that I can't imagine them bothering with something as difficult to get to as the ISS. And no, I won't be explaining what I mean by "so many soft targets". I don't want to give the gormless bastards any ideas.

Rob

[geckzilla]

Heh, I am sure they have already thought most of them up. And I don't think it's necessarily the amount of people killed (though I'm sure that factors in) but what kind of symbolism it holds. Something like the ISS is a symbol of cooperation and technology to us. If all of the countries involved pissed them off enough in some way, destroying the ISS could be a major blow to every country in a single strike. It would be extremely saddening. I would think that kind of symbol would rank fairly high on the list. Not to mention it would make them look very sophisticated if they could pull it off. It's a terrible mistake to think they are stupid. Hopefully if they ever considered it it's just a pipe dream.