Interplanetary Internet

High school (ages 12+)
Space & Astronomy

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/interplanetary-internet

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the network paradigm?A distributed, delay-tolerant network architecture for interplanetary communication
2. What is the primary operational mode?Relies on 'store-and-forward' mechanisms rather than real-time end-to-end connections
3. Why does it need a store-and-forward system?Because space is so far away, signals can take minutes or hours, so the network stores messages at intermediate points and forwards them when a link is ready.
4. How long does it take for a message to reach Mars?A message to Mars can take between 3 and 22 minutes one way, and to outer‑solar‑system probes it can take hours.

Delay/Disruption Tolerant Networking (DTN): A suite of protocols designed for networks with long delays, high error rates, and intermittent connectivity.
Interplanetary Distances: The vast spatial separations between celestial bodies, measured in millions or billions of kilometers.
Store-and-Forward: A network communication strategy where data is temporarily stored at intermediate nodes before being retransmitted to the next hop.