Questions and answers about communication and technology in space. Part 1
Cosmos has always interested man, and when people had the opportunity to go there, the questions, perhaps, only increased. But today you can get answers to them almost from the first hands - many astronauts write blogs and are happy to talk with subscribers, and NASA publishes a huge number of photos, research results, future space mission projects and interesting facts .
Therefore, everyone can learn how the life of astronauts in orbit is arranged or what technologies are used outside our planet. We decided to find answers to several interesting questions about communications, gadgets and communications in space.
/ Flickr / NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (view from the Russian segment of the ISS) / CC
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Previously, astronauts did not have the ability to connect to the Internet directly. All publications on Twitter, for example, were made from Earth: messages from the ISS were transmitted via descending communication lines to the flight control center, where they were already placed in the profiles of astronauts.
In January 2010, a Crew Support LAN network appeared at the station, and the connection was made via an orbital telecommunications satellite. Another way to access the Internet is remote access to a computer on Earth. The first space tweet was published by American astronaut Tim Krimer.
Until now, the main method of communication with the ISS remains the radio. The advantages are obvious - no special equipment is required (only the antenna and transmitter), and the atmosphere does not block radio waves (more here ). Ku- (12-18 GHz) and S-band (2-4 GHz) are used to transmit information into space. The signal is sent to the satellite, which redirects it to the ISS, where it is received via an antenna, and then, for example, an email is downloaded to the computer.
On the Russian segments of the station, there is its own, a separate radio communication system, Lira, and a satellite data relay system, Luch. Next year it will be able to replace the American communication system, which Russian cosmonauts are forced to use today. True, the speed of radio communication, which depends on the distance, leaves much to be desired.
And in 2015, the astronauts were still not satisfied with the quality of communication. For example, Scott Kelly complained on his Twitter page about Internet speed, which is even slower than it once was on Earth when accessed via a modem. But NASA spokesman Dan Huot disagrees with this characteristic of communication. He believes that the connection speed on board is good enough, and most importantly the width of the channel allows you to send gigabytes of video files every day without overloading the system. In addition, in their free time, astronauts can even watch online broadcasts.
But technology does not stand still, and today there is already a faster way to transmit data - DTN (Delay / Disruption Tolerant Networking, architecture of networks that are resistant to delays and frequent disconnections). In the 1990s, NASA joined Google with the development of technology, and this summer the system was installed on the ISS.
DTN uses the Store-and-forward approach, which allows you to save packets when they are not able to be transferred to the recipient. After receiving a reliable route for delivery, data transfer is resumed. Moreover, the storage of service data is performed in arbitrary blocks, and not in the packet header. A good analogy with freight is given in the wiki .
Many astronauts lead pages on social networks, where you can even chat with them, ask questions and simply learn about their work. Some of them are right now on the ISS. Among them - Robert Shane Kimbrough (Shane Kimborough) - publishes fresh photos of the Earth and talks about its activities. For example, a few weeks ago he planted lettuce at the station. Jeff Williams (Jeff Williams) visited the ISS a little earlier this year, and on his Instagram page is a collection of fascinating shots and even a few short videos. And the American astronaut Reid Wiseman (Reid Wiseman) generally specialized in Vainah . If you scroll through its page (until November 2014), you can find a video with our planet in the lead role, see the Milky Way and watch the space experiments on board.
Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev returned from the ISS in 2014, but continues to share with subscribers amazing photos of different parts of the Earth and cloud landscapes. In the photoblog of Sergey Ryazansky, you can find beautiful pictures of different cities from his last flight in 2013 and see how preparations for new space travels are going. During his stay in orbit in February of this year, Sergei Volkov talked in detail about the work at the station, recorded the video and shared interesting photos: Elbrus, Egyptian pyramids and even a spacewalk.
However, for astronauts and astronauts, contact with friends and family is certainly more important than contact with subscribers. Thanks to modern technology, you can get in touch more often and without intermediaries. For example, the organization of informal video conferences, according to NASA, has a positive effect on the state of the crew during the flight and helps to overcome the feeling of loneliness. Psychologist Jack Stuster (Jack Stuster), who studies the effects of isolation on the psyche, conducted an interesting experiment - he studied the records made by astronauts during the flight in order to assess their condition.
As it turned out, one of the first lucky people who used such new technologies considered this communication not only a boon, but also a “curse” (see clause 4 in the source ). Communication often interfered: earthly news and gossip did not allow us to concentrate on work, and sometimes we had to wait for a response for several days, and it seemed that time dragged on much longer.
Phones, players, tablets and other devices in addition to the communication function, create a more homely and psychologically comfortable atmosphere on the ISS. Many astronauts blog and take with them cameras of the latest models. In June 2012, NASA for the first time sent several iPhone 4s to orbit for research using specially designed applications.
The company Odyssey Space Research has just developed a program SpaceLab, which could be used to back up and restore the state of the navigation system. Brian Rishikof, the company's CEO, says the project’s goal was to prove that a $ 500 device with a user-friendly interface could easily replace the expensive space station hardware.
But, of course, only certified devices that have been thoroughly tested and are completely safe can get on board. For example, a specific type of battery and non-toxic plastic must be used. Today, there are 100 laptops on the ISS for only six crew members. (Read more - in an interview with a NASA representative responsible for the equipment in the sections “Spaceman on a space LAN”, “The rise of phones and tablets”). 20% of them are spare - the astronauts cannot always cope with breakdowns on their own. 15 are used to control the spacecraft flying system, and 30 are used for daily tasks, data storage and instructions.
Onboard smartphones presented by iPhone and Android Nexus 5 have their own function - using the SPHERES program, you can control flying drones from them, which perform some too dangerous or, on the contrary, routine duties instead of crew members. In addition, NASA provides tablets for all mission participants: several generations of iPads, including the iPad Air 2, and several Microsoft Surface Pro 3. The tablets are needed to conduct experiments, record information, have fun, and interact with the family.
If we assume that in the future, not only specially trained cosmonauts will be able to get into space, but also ordinary people (in the form of space tourists), and the geography of travel will expand significantly, then you should think about the gadgets that you need in this case. In 2015, the Scottish whiskey manufacturer, together with the space technology agency Open Space, developed a special “space glass” that “works” even in zero gravity conditions. The Open Space team tried to offer an alternative scenario for the development of space gadgets.
The reasons why modern smartphones are not suitable for future space travel are the rapid loss of battery power in conditions of low gravity and the inability of terrestrial materials to carry sharp temperature drops from -270 to 120 degrees Celsius. Therefore, the smartphone must become holographic: it will be able to materialize from the air, but at the same time respond to touch. So users can stay in touch with friends who remain on Earth, add real impressions while playing Space Invaders, and update the list of the best interplanetary restaurants.
PS In the second part of our story we will discuss why earth equipment is unsuitable for use in space and how to organize interplanetary Internet.
What else do we write in the first blog about corporate IaaS:
And in our blog on Habré:
Therefore, everyone can learn how the life of astronauts in orbit is arranged or what technologies are used outside our planet. We decided to find answers to several interesting questions about communications, gadgets and communications in space.
/ Flickr / NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (view from the Russian segment of the ISS) / CC
')
How do astronauts on the ISS go online?
Previously, astronauts did not have the ability to connect to the Internet directly. All publications on Twitter, for example, were made from Earth: messages from the ISS were transmitted via descending communication lines to the flight control center, where they were already placed in the profiles of astronauts.
In January 2010, a Crew Support LAN network appeared at the station, and the connection was made via an orbital telecommunications satellite. Another way to access the Internet is remote access to a computer on Earth. The first space tweet was published by American astronaut Tim Krimer.
Until now, the main method of communication with the ISS remains the radio. The advantages are obvious - no special equipment is required (only the antenna and transmitter), and the atmosphere does not block radio waves (more here ). Ku- (12-18 GHz) and S-band (2-4 GHz) are used to transmit information into space. The signal is sent to the satellite, which redirects it to the ISS, where it is received via an antenna, and then, for example, an email is downloaded to the computer.
On the Russian segments of the station, there is its own, a separate radio communication system, Lira, and a satellite data relay system, Luch. Next year it will be able to replace the American communication system, which Russian cosmonauts are forced to use today. True, the speed of radio communication, which depends on the distance, leaves much to be desired.
And in 2015, the astronauts were still not satisfied with the quality of communication. For example, Scott Kelly complained on his Twitter page about Internet speed, which is even slower than it once was on Earth when accessed via a modem. But NASA spokesman Dan Huot disagrees with this characteristic of communication. He believes that the connection speed on board is good enough, and most importantly the width of the channel allows you to send gigabytes of video files every day without overloading the system. In addition, in their free time, astronauts can even watch online broadcasts.
But technology does not stand still, and today there is already a faster way to transmit data - DTN (Delay / Disruption Tolerant Networking, architecture of networks that are resistant to delays and frequent disconnections). In the 1990s, NASA joined Google with the development of technology, and this summer the system was installed on the ISS.
DTN uses the Store-and-forward approach, which allows you to save packets when they are not able to be transferred to the recipient. After receiving a reliable route for delivery, data transfer is resumed. Moreover, the storage of service data is performed in arbitrary blocks, and not in the packet header. A good analogy with freight is given in the wiki .
How can I contact astronauts?
Many astronauts lead pages on social networks, where you can even chat with them, ask questions and simply learn about their work. Some of them are right now on the ISS. Among them - Robert Shane Kimbrough (Shane Kimborough) - publishes fresh photos of the Earth and talks about its activities. For example, a few weeks ago he planted lettuce at the station. Jeff Williams (Jeff Williams) visited the ISS a little earlier this year, and on his Instagram page is a collection of fascinating shots and even a few short videos. And the American astronaut Reid Wiseman (Reid Wiseman) generally specialized in Vainah . If you scroll through its page (until November 2014), you can find a video with our planet in the lead role, see the Milky Way and watch the space experiments on board.
Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev returned from the ISS in 2014, but continues to share with subscribers amazing photos of different parts of the Earth and cloud landscapes. In the photoblog of Sergey Ryazansky, you can find beautiful pictures of different cities from his last flight in 2013 and see how preparations for new space travels are going. During his stay in orbit in February of this year, Sergei Volkov talked in detail about the work at the station, recorded the video and shared interesting photos: Elbrus, Egyptian pyramids and even a spacewalk.
However, for astronauts and astronauts, contact with friends and family is certainly more important than contact with subscribers. Thanks to modern technology, you can get in touch more often and without intermediaries. For example, the organization of informal video conferences, according to NASA, has a positive effect on the state of the crew during the flight and helps to overcome the feeling of loneliness. Psychologist Jack Stuster (Jack Stuster), who studies the effects of isolation on the psyche, conducted an interesting experiment - he studied the records made by astronauts during the flight in order to assess their condition.
As it turned out, one of the first lucky people who used such new technologies considered this communication not only a boon, but also a “curse” (see clause 4 in the source ). Communication often interfered: earthly news and gossip did not allow us to concentrate on work, and sometimes we had to wait for a response for several days, and it seemed that time dragged on much longer.
What gadgets do astronauts use?
Phones, players, tablets and other devices in addition to the communication function, create a more homely and psychologically comfortable atmosphere on the ISS. Many astronauts blog and take with them cameras of the latest models. In June 2012, NASA for the first time sent several iPhone 4s to orbit for research using specially designed applications.
The company Odyssey Space Research has just developed a program SpaceLab, which could be used to back up and restore the state of the navigation system. Brian Rishikof, the company's CEO, says the project’s goal was to prove that a $ 500 device with a user-friendly interface could easily replace the expensive space station hardware.
But, of course, only certified devices that have been thoroughly tested and are completely safe can get on board. For example, a specific type of battery and non-toxic plastic must be used. Today, there are 100 laptops on the ISS for only six crew members. (Read more - in an interview with a NASA representative responsible for the equipment in the sections “Spaceman on a space LAN”, “The rise of phones and tablets”). 20% of them are spare - the astronauts cannot always cope with breakdowns on their own. 15 are used to control the spacecraft flying system, and 30 are used for daily tasks, data storage and instructions.
Onboard smartphones presented by iPhone and Android Nexus 5 have their own function - using the SPHERES program, you can control flying drones from them, which perform some too dangerous or, on the contrary, routine duties instead of crew members. In addition, NASA provides tablets for all mission participants: several generations of iPads, including the iPad Air 2, and several Microsoft Surface Pro 3. The tablets are needed to conduct experiments, record information, have fun, and interact with the family.
If we assume that in the future, not only specially trained cosmonauts will be able to get into space, but also ordinary people (in the form of space tourists), and the geography of travel will expand significantly, then you should think about the gadgets that you need in this case. In 2015, the Scottish whiskey manufacturer, together with the space technology agency Open Space, developed a special “space glass” that “works” even in zero gravity conditions. The Open Space team tried to offer an alternative scenario for the development of space gadgets.
The reasons why modern smartphones are not suitable for future space travel are the rapid loss of battery power in conditions of low gravity and the inability of terrestrial materials to carry sharp temperature drops from -270 to 120 degrees Celsius. Therefore, the smartphone must become holographic: it will be able to materialize from the air, but at the same time respond to touch. So users can stay in touch with friends who remain on Earth, add real impressions while playing Space Invaders, and update the list of the best interplanetary restaurants.
PS In the second part of our story we will discuss why earth equipment is unsuitable for use in space and how to organize interplanetary Internet.
What else do we write in the first blog about corporate IaaS:
- Cloud services: experience of using IaaS by Russian companies
- X-as-a-services: how not to get bogged down in the abbreviations of cloud services
- At the 2016 Olympics using cloud technology
And in our blog on Habré:
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/315312/
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