Explore Search
 
 News & Events
											News & Events
															All NASA News
															Video Series on NASA+
															Podcasts
															Blogs
															Newsletters
															Social Media
															Media Resources
															Upcoming Launches & Landings
															Virtual Events
					Multimedia
											Multimedia
															NASA+
															Images
															NASA TV
															Sounds and Ringtones
															Interactives
															NASA Apps
															Podcasts
															e-Books
															STEM Multimedia
					NASA+


Search
 Suggested Searches Climate Change
								Artemis
								Expedition 64
								Mars perseverance
								SpaceX Crew-2
								International Space Station
							View All Topics A-Z


HomeMissionsHumans in SpaceEarth & ClimateThe Solar SystemThe UniverseScienceAeronauticsTechnologyLearning ResourcesAbout NASAEspañol			News & Events
			Multimedia
			NASA+
 Featured Sols 4214–4215: The Best Laid Plans...3 min readSols 4214–4215: The Best Laid Plans...article4 days ago Hubble Observes a Cosmic Fossil2 min readHubble Observes a Cosmic Fossilarticle3 days ago Voyager 1 Returning Science Data From All Four Instruments2 min readVoyager 1 Returning Science Data From All Four Instrumentsarticle4 days ago
 Back
 Missions Search All NASA MissionsA to Z List of MissionsUpcoming Launches and LandingsSpaceships and RocketsCommunicating with MissionsArtemisJames Webb Space TelescopeHubble Space TelescopeInternational Space Station
 Humans in Space Why Go to SpaceAstronautsCommercial SpaceDestinationsSpaceships and RocketsLiving in Space
 Earth & Climate Explore Earth ScienceClimate ChangeEarth, Our PlanetEarth Science in ActionEarth MultimediaEarth DataEarth Science Researchers
 The Solar System The SunMercuryVenusEarthThe MoonMarsJupiterSaturnUranusNeptunePluto & Dwarf PlanetsAsteroids, Comets & MeteorsThe Kuiper BeltThe Oort CloudSkywatching
 The Universe ExoplanetsThe Search for Life in the UniverseStarsGalaxiesBlack HolesThe Big BangDark Energy & Dark Matter
 Science Earth SciencePlanetary ScienceAstrophysics & Space ScienceThe Sun & HeliophysicsBiological & Physical SciencesLunar ScienceCitizen ScienceAstromaterialsAeronautics ResearchHuman Space Travel Research
 Aeronautics Science in the AirNASA AircraftFlight InnovationSupersonic FlightAir Traffic SolutionsGreen Aviation TechDrones & You
 Technology Technology Transfer & SpinoffsSpace Travel TechnologyTechnology Living in SpaceManufacturing and MaterialsRoboticsScience InstrumentsComputing
 Learning Resources For Kids and StudentsFor EducatorsFor Colleges and UniversitiesFor ProfessionalsScience for EveryoneRequests for Exhibits, Artifacts, or SpeakersSTEM Engagement at NASA
 About NASA NASA's ImpactsCenters and FacilitiesDirectoratesOrganizationsPeople of NASACareersInternshipsOur HistoryDoing Business with NASAGet InvolvedContact
 Español CienciaAeronáuticaCiencias TerrestresSistema SolarUniverso
 News & Events All NASA NewsVideo Series on NASA+PodcastsBlogsNewslettersSocial MediaMedia ResourcesUpcoming Launches & LandingsVirtual Events
 Multimedia NASA+ImagesNASA TVSounds and RingtonesInteractivesNASA AppsPodcastse-BooksSTEM Multimedia
 Highlights 4 min read

		NASA Satellites Find Snow Didn’t Offset Southwest US Groundwater Loss

		article

			2 hours ago Investigating the Origins of the Crab Nebula With NASA’s Webb

	6 min read

		Investigating the Origins of the Crab Nebula With NASA’s Webb

		article

			6 hours ago A large propeller plane takes off from a runway, surrounded by brown and green grasses with low buildings out of focus in the background. The plane is white with a blue stripe down the middle, and has a NASA logo on the tail. The sky is a hazy blue with some clouds.

	2 min read

		NASA-Led Mission to Map Air Pollution Over Both U.S. Coasts

		article

			3 days ago
 Highlights A woman with long, wavy hair and a bright smile sits at a round table during a formal event, surrounded by other attendees. She is wearing a brown cardigan and a patterned blouse.

	5 min read

		Lakita Lowe: Leading Space Commercialization Innovations and Fostering STEM Engagement

		article

			5 days ago NASA’s Repository Supports Research of Commercial Astronaut Health

	2 min read

		NASA’s Repository Supports Research of Commercial Astronaut Health

		article

			6 days ago NASA astronaut Doug “Wheels” Wheelock and Axiom Space astronaut Peggy Whitson prepare for a test of full-scale mockups of spacesuits developed by Axiom Space and SpaceX’s Starship human landing system developed for NASA’s Artemis missions to the Moon.

	4 min read

		NASA Astronauts Practice Next Giant Leap for Artemis

		article

			2 weeks ago
 Highlights 4 min read

		NASA Satellites Find Snow Didn’t Offset Southwest US Groundwater Loss

		article

			2 hours ago A large propeller plane takes off from a runway, surrounded by brown and green grasses with low buildings out of focus in the background. The plane is white with a blue stripe down the middle, and has a NASA logo on the tail. The sky is a hazy blue with some clouds.

	2 min read

		NASA-Led Mission to Map Air Pollution Over Both U.S. Coasts

		article

			3 days ago NASA Announces New System to Aid Disaster Response

	4 min read

		NASA Announces New System to Aid Disaster Response

		article

			4 days ago
 Highlights Tropical Solstice Shadows

	4 min read

		Tropical Solstice Shadows

		article

			2 days ago 2 min read

		NASA’s LRO Spots China’s Chang’e 6 Spacecraft on Lunar Far Side

		article

			3 days ago The Next Full Moon is the Strawberry Moon

	17 min read

		The Next Full Moon is the Strawberry Moon

		article

			4 days ago
 Featured Investigating the Origins of the Crab Nebula With NASA’s Webb

	6 min read

		Investigating the Origins of the Crab Nebula With NASA’s Webb

		article

			6 hours ago Hubble Observes a Cosmic Fossil

	2 min read

		Hubble Observes a Cosmic Fossil

		article

			3 days ago WL20 group of stars is located in the Rho Ophiuchi star-forming region

	5 min read

		NASA’s Webb Reveals Long-Studied Star Is Actually Twins

		article

			4 days ago
 Highlights 4 min read

		NASA Satellites Find Snow Didn’t Offset Southwest US Groundwater Loss

		article

			2 hours ago Aaron Burton

	1 min read

		Aaron Burton

		article

			2 hours ago Investigating the Origins of the Crab Nebula With NASA’s Webb

	6 min read

		Investigating the Origins of the Crab Nebula With NASA’s Webb

		article

			6 hours ago
 Highlights A silver-colored airplane research model sits in a wind tunnel facility. The model consists of a section of a scaled-down fuselage on the floor, with a single wing mounted vertically on it. The metallic wall of the wind tunnel is visible in the background.

	4 min read

		Globetrotting NASA Research Model Increases Accuracy

		article

			10 hours ago Illustration showing several future aircraft concepts flying over a mid-sized city with a handful of skyscrapers.

	7 min read

		ARMD Solicitations

		article

			2 weeks ago Team “Rumble Ready” from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, comprised of (from left to right) Professor Mark Gonda, Nicole Xie, Junaid Bodla, Jordan Ragsac, Krishi Gajjar, Gerald McAllister III, and Leara Dominguez, took home first place at the 2024 Gateways to Blue Skies Forum held May 30-31 at NASA Ames Research Center. They are standing in a row posing for the photo; the team members are wearing blue t-shirts, black pants, and tennis shoes.

	4 min read

		Winners Announced in Gateways to Blue Skies Aeronautics Competition

		article

			2 weeks ago
 Highlights Simulated Roman image full of synthetic galaxies

	6 min read

		NASA’s Roman Mission Gets Cosmic ‘Sneak Peek’ From Supercomputers

		article

			5 days ago Ed Stone, former director of JPL and project scientist for the Voyager mission, died on June 9, 2024. A friend, mentor, and colleague to many, he was known for his straightforward leadership and commitment to communicating with the public.

	5 min read

		Ed Stone, Former Director of JPL, Voyager Project Scientist, Dies

		article

			6 days ago Astronaut-packaged cheese sandwiches

	2 min read

		Food Safety Program for Space Has Taken Over on Earth

		article

			1 week ago
 Featured Helping student’s Summer Slide With NASA STEM. Three young students, a girl and two boys, having fun while they blow into straws to launch their soda-straw rockets.

	4 min read

		Slow Your Student’s ‘Summer Slide’ and Beat Boredom With NASA STEM

		article
			3 hours ago
 Highlights Students watch a sounding rocket launch at sunrise.

	4 min read

		NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility to Launch Student Experiments

		article

			3 days ago A large propeller plane takes off from a runway, surrounded by brown and green grasses with low buildings out of focus in the background. The plane is white with a blue stripe down the middle, and has a NASA logo on the tail. The sky is a hazy blue with some clouds.

	2 min read

		NASA-Led Mission to Map Air Pollution Over Both U.S. Coasts

		article

			3 days ago NASA astronaut and Expedition 64 Flight Engineer Victor Glover reviews procedures on a computer for the Monoclonal Antibodies Protein Crystal Growth (PCG) experiment inside the Harmony module.

	2 min read

		NASA Joins National Space Council in Celebration of Black Space Week

		article

			3 days ago
 Highlights NASA Astronaut Official Portrait Frank Rubio

	5 min read

		Astronauta de la NASA Frank Rubio

		article

			3 days ago 2021 Astronaut Candidates Stand in Recognition

	6 min read

		Diez maneras en que los estudiantes pueden prepararse para ser astronautas

		article

			3 months ago Astronaut Marcos Berrios

	4 min read

		Astronauta de la NASA Marcos Berríos

		article

			3 months ago


3 min read Disruption Tolerant Networking to Demonstrate Internet in Space


Katherine Schauer
 Madison Olson
 
 
 
 Contents
 Data Delivery
							Antarctica Demonstration
 NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations and Science Mission Directorates are collaborating to make interplanetary internet a reality. They’re about to demonstrate Delay/Disruption Tolerant Networking, or DTN – a technology that sends information much the same way as conventional internet does. Information is put into DTN bundles, which are sent through space and ground networks to its destination. NASA’s new Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem, or PACE, mission will be the first space mission to use a new communication technology. From left to right are the engineers helping to build the mission: Nga Cao, Steve Feng, Wei Lu, Chris Zincke, and Zoran Kahric.
**NASA**
 Unlike the internet, where data packets are discarded when encountering a disconnection, DTN guarantees delivery even if there are interruptions. If the bundle fails to transmit because of unavailable links, DTN stores the bundles and waits until the next communication path opens. Each DTN node or router can accept custody of the bundle and forward or retransmit the data, eliminating the need for an entire data retransmission from the original source should a disruption occur. This, in turn, saves time and more quickly frees up the limited data memory aboard a spacecraft – an important feature given the large amounts of data collected by satellite instruments. Data Delivery The Science Mission Directorate looks forward to incorporating DTN into future missions and has identified the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem, or PACE, mission as the first key opportunity to demonstrate this revolutionary capability. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, first tested DTN during a science mission to a comet in 2008. That technology demonstration proved out the capability of DTN as part of the Deep Impact – EPOXI mission. PACE will take an important next step in using DTN as part of daily operations. DTN represents a shift in how data will get delivered in the future."
 David Israel
 David Israel Networking Architect
 “DTN represents a shift in how data will get delivered in the future. I’m delighted PACE will become the first science mission to employ DTN,” said David Israel. Targeted to launch in the early 2020s, PACE will advance scientists’ ability to assess the health of Earth’s oceans by measuring the distribution of phytoplankton, tiny plants and algae that sustain the marine food web. It will also continue systematic records of key atmospheric variables associated with air quality and Earth’s climate. Antarctica Demonstration The decision to infuse DTN on a space platform comes just months after NASA engineers demonstrated the technology from the National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station in Antarctica — a highly remote location with limited communication infrastructure. The demonstration showed that NASA could operate “internet style” between two endpoints within two different networks that do not have a continuous path between them, Israel said. DTN could become a communication necessity for all types of terrestrial applications. Any remote location on Earth that has limited network connectivity is a candidate for DTN, Israel said. NASA plans to build out a Solar System Internet with international partners, beginning with NASA’s Near Earth Network, Space Network and Deep Space Network, Israel added. Both the Solar System Internet concept and DTN are part of NASA’s Decade of Light initiative, through which the agency is developing and refining next-generation communications and navigation technologies for use in future science and exploration missions. Exploration missions will use DTN to expand the network to the Moon, allowing communication between surface and orbiting elements and with Earth. “We’re really pushing to get DTN in use,” Israel said. “This is an important first step in that process.” **By Lori KeeseyNASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center**


National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA explores the unknown in air and space, innovates for the benefit of humanity, and inspires the world through discovery. About NASA's Mission Join Us
 Home
								News & Events
								Multimedia
								NASA+
								Missions
								Humans in Space
								Earth & Climate
								The Solar System
								The Universe
								Science
								Aeronautics
								Technology
								Learning Resources
								About NASA
								NASA en Español
 Follow NASA
 More NASA Social Accounts
                            NASA Newsletters
 Sitemap
						For Media
						Privacy Policy
						FOIA
						No FEAR Act
						Office of the IG
						Budget & Annual Reports
						Agency Financial Reports
						Contact NASA
						Accessibility
 Page Last Updated:
								Sep 20, 2023
							Page Editor:
								Catherine G. Manning
												Responsible NASA Official:
							Abigail Bowman