The ISS has just installed a new technology known as Delay/Disruption Tolerant Networking, the first stage in a new mission that aims to allow the implementation of a Solar System-wide Internet in the near future. It’s basically Internet. For the whole Solar System. Traditional Internet protocols require all nodes in the transmission path to be available during the same time-frame. But for DTN, that’s not the case. DTN works by providing a reliable and automatic “store and forward” data network that stores partial bundles of data in nodes along a communication path until the parts can be forwarded or retransmitted, then re-bundled at the final destination. These destinations could include ground stations on Earth, robotic spacecraft in deep space, or even manned colonies. This makes the network very resilient; even if planets block the communications path, the message would still be received. http://futurism.com/new-tech-installed-on-the-iss-set-to-form-solar-system-wide-internet/
