The US space agency NASA said, it successfully conducted a first test of deep space communication network on Internet. Instead of using the regular TCP/IP, the interplanetary communication is achieved by a new kind of networking model, the Disruption Tolerant Networking, developed by the Internet Giant Vinton Cerf.
DTN sends information very differently than the normal Internet’s TCP/IP model, it is designed to withstand delays, disruptions, and disconnections caused in space. DTN model does not assume a continuous end-to-end connection, since there will always be some kind of errors due to solar storms or long communication. It is said that receiving data packets from Mars takes anywhere between 3 1/2 minutes to 20 minutes at the speed of light.
When there is no destination path found to send the information, it is kept by each network node until it can communicate safely with another node.
In space today, an operations team must manually schedule each link and generate all the commands to specify which data to send, when to send it, and where to send it, said Leigh Torgerson, manager of the DTN Experiment.
With the DTN Experiment being a success, it could enable many new types of space missions and complex flights involving multiple spacecrafts and ensure reliable communications for astronauts on the moon.