# No internet access on the space station? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 10, 2008, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-internet-access-on-the-space-station/436995 "2008-02-10T03:21:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gravitycrash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@gravitycrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gravitycrash)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-internet-access-on-the-space-station/436995/1 "2008-02-10T03:21:46Z")
I realize they have precious little time for fun up there but they seem to have time for movies and television shows. I’m just curious, I read that from [MSNBC.com](http://MSNBC.com) Is there a reason for this? ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-internet-access-on-the-space-station/436995/2 "2008-02-10T03:23:14Z")
wicked lag time. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-internet-access-on-the-space-station/436995/3 "2008-02-10T03:35:23Z")
I wondered about this myself, and came to the conclusion that NASA might be worried about Internet-transmitted malware. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-internet-access-on-the-space-station/436995/4 "2008-02-10T03:53:50Z")
[QUOTE=gravitycrash] I realize they have precious little time for fun up there but they seem to have time for movies and television shows. I’m just curious, I read that from [MSNBC.com](http://MSNBC.com) Is there a reason for this? [/QUOTE] I would imagine bandwidth issues. I would guess that a lot of data gets transmitted between the surface and the station. Leaving enough bandwidth for surfing would be expensive. If they were on the net, great blogging though… ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-internet-access-on-the-space-station/436995/5 "2008-02-10T04:06:01Z")
I would also guess that at the rate they’re circling the earth (once every 90 minutes), it would be difficult to sustain a connection to one particular transmitter for long. ---
**Author:** ![gravitycrash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@gravitycrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gravitycrash)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-internet-access-on-the-space-station/436995/6 "2008-02-10T05:53:46Z")
[QUOTE=USCDiver] I would also guess that at the rate they’re circling the earth (once every 90 minutes), it would be difficult to sustain a connection to one particular transmitter for long. [/QUOTE] Ok, that makes sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-internet-access-on-the-space-station/436995/7 "2008-02-10T08:44:46Z")
[QUOTE=beowulff] I wondered about this myself, and came to the conclusion that NASA might be worried about Internet-transmitted malware. [/QUOTE] That’s hardly a reason to not have internet access. Maybe not to have a Apple or Microsoft OS on a computer that is also running important stuff, but it wouldn’t kill them to throw up a limited browser on one of their computers that could at least do webmail. Believe it or not you can access the internet in almost complete security without too much effort. My guess would be the transmitter issue as well. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-internet-access-on-the-space-station/436995/8 "2008-02-10T12:22:44Z")
[QUOTE=rbroome] I would imagine bandwidth issues. I would guess that a lot of data gets transmitted between the surface and the station. Leaving enough bandwidth for surfing would be expensive. [/QUOTE] I have trouble believing this. I mean, there is SO much data sent down about every little thing — medical telemetry about each astronaut, readings on every device in operation, oxygen levels, CO2 levels, yada yada yada — I’d think that web surfing would be almost negligible in comparision, and a small price to pay for the big anti-boredom factor, not to mention the value of private emails to family and friends. There’s gotta be a better answer. I hope someone can find it. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-internet-access-on-the-space-station/436995/9 "2008-02-10T13:14:38Z")
My guess would be its a security issue. The SS is a quasi-military operation and they get to do fun things like launch spy sat’s and eject the toilet waste over our enemy to demoralize them. Having a open channel aboard would not be in the best interest of the program. As for the technical issues, NASA already has a continuous data stream with them, even during reentry now, heck they even have a continuous data stream with the marsian rovers, there should be no technical reason that they couldn’t provide a internet gateway in that. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-internet-access-on-the-space-station/436995/10 "2008-02-10T14:08:18Z")
Who needs internet when you have ham radio? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-internet-access-on-the-space-station/436995/11 "2008-02-10T14:16:09Z")
NASA doesn’t want them to try to make money on the side uploading zero g gay astronaut porn. It is the once fetish lacking in content thus far. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-internet-access-on-the-space-station/436995/12 "2008-02-10T14:23:51Z")
[QUOTE=kanicbird] My guess would be its a security issue. The SS is a quasi-military operation and they get to do fun things like launch spy sat’s and eject the toilet waste over our enemy to demoralize them. Having a open channel aboard would not be in the best interest of the program. As for the technical issues, NASA already has a continuous data stream with them, even during reentry now, heck they even have a continuous data stream with the marsian rovers, there should be no technical reason that they couldn’t provide a internet gateway in that. [/QUOTE] WTF? How would the ISS launch a spy sat? First of all, it’s the _International_ Space Station and there’s at least _one_ non-US astronaut onboard the thing 90% of the time. Second, since the _Challenger_ disaster, the shuttle has been prohibited from carrying satellites, as the fuel could pose a safety hazard. Nor does NASA have a continuous data stream during reentry, there’s a few moments during reentry where the amount of ionized gases surrounding the shuttle are such that they can’t get a signal through. Nor do we have continuous communication with the Martian rovers. There’s only about a 90 minute window which we can communicate with them. NASA _has_ been working on internet communication between the Earth and orbiting bodies. I know that there’s been some chat sessions on the internet between astronauts on the ISS and school children, which doesn’t mean, of course, that they _do_ have internet access. I’ve tried poking around on NASA’s site, but they’ve so FUBAR’d the design that it’s damned impossible to find anything. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-internet-access-on-the-space-station/436995/13 "2008-02-10T14:28:08Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty] NASA doesn’t want them to try to make money on the side uploading zero g gay astronaut porn. It is the once fetish lacking in content thus far. [/QUOTE] You just don’t know where to look. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-internet-access-on-the-space-station/436995/14 "2008-02-10T14:41:24Z")
> [@](#): > > I’d think that web surfing would be almost negligible in comparision, and a small price to pay for the big anti-boredom factor From what I understand about space station life, there isn’t a whole lot of spare time to be bored. ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-internet-access-on-the-space-station/436995/15 "2008-02-10T15:15:35Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] Second, since the _Challenger_ disaster, the shuttle has been prohibited from carrying satellites, as the fuel could pose a safety hazard. [/QUOTE] Nitpick: plenty of satellites are still launched by the shuttle, just not by the Centaur upper stage anymore. > **[List of Space Shuttle missions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_space_shuttle_missions#List_of_shuttle_flights)** > > The Space Shuttle was a partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated by NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration). Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS), taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft of which it was the only item funded for development. Operational missions launched numerous satellites, conducted science experiments in orbit, and participated in construction and servicing of the International Space Statio Fr... ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-internet-access-on-the-space-station/436995/16 "2008-02-10T18:10:43Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] Second, since the Challenger disaster, the shuttle has been prohibited from carrying satellites, as the fuel could pose a safety hazard. [/QUOTE] I didn’t know this. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard of some shuttle mission carrying a satellite after the Challenger. As it is confirmed by **drewbert** ’s post > [@](#): > > Nor does NASA have a continuous data stream during reentry, there’s a few moments during reentry where the amount of ionized gases surrounding the shuttle are such that they can’t get a signal through. This used to be a issue, but I’ve heard that the shuttle does get a signal through to a satellites which is relayed back down to the ground (in other words the shuttle can’t send a signal down through the ionized gases but can send them up through the ‘hole’ in the gases the shuttle creates. Also even if what you claim is true, it’s not like the astronauts would be checking email then anyway. > [@](#): > > Nor do we have continuous communication with the Martian rovers. There’s only about a 90 minute window which we can communicate with them. I know the 90 minute window is not true either. The rovers have 2 main channels and data streams, one goes direct from the rovers to earth and is only limited by if the rover has a direct line of site with earth. I believe this data stream is 9.6 kb/s IIRC. But it has a second one, one that uplinks to orbiting probes at 128 kb/s and that probe relays the stream to earth. Ok not the broadband we earthlings are used to, but high tech stuff for mars. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-internet-access-on-the-space-station/436995/17 "2008-02-10T18:28:11Z")
[QUOTE=beowulff] I wondered about this myself, and came to the conclusion that NASA might be worried about Internet-transmitted malware. [/QUOTE] The script for a forgettable summer movie just sprang fully formed into my brain. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-internet-access-on-the-space-station/436995/18 "2008-02-10T18:52:47Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] The script for a forgettable summer movie just sprang fully formed into my brain. [/QUOTE] Just remember, I want royalties… ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2008, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-internet-access-on-the-space-station/436995/19 "2008-02-10T23:15:20Z")
[QUOTE=kanicbird] I didn’t know this. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard of some shuttle mission carrying a satellite after the Challenger. As it is confirmed by **drewbert** ’s post This used to be a issue, but I’ve heard that the shuttle does get a signal through to a satellites which is relayed back down to the ground (in other words the shuttle can’t send a signal down through the ionized gases but can send them up through the ‘hole’ in the gases the shuttle creates. Also even if what you claim is true, it’s not like the astronauts would be checking email then anyway. [/quote] They’re totally encased in the field. Up, down, it don’t matter. Nothing’s going in or out. > [@](#): > > I know the 90 minute window is not true either. The rovers have 2 main channels and data streams, one goes direct from the rovers to earth and is only limited by if the rover has a direct line of site with earth. I believe this data stream is 9.6 kb/s IIRC. But it has a second one, one that uplinks to orbiting probes at 128 kb/s and that probe relays the stream to earth. Ok not the broadband we earthlings are used to, but high tech stuff for mars. The 90 minutes is related to how long the orbits of the relay stations orbiting Mars line up with Earth. At present, we don’t have enough stuff up there t0 be able to get signals 24/7. Also, we’re limited in how long the ground stations can listen to the Mars gear. Apparently, we’re using the same gear on Earth to recieve signals from space probes. Some of the Messenger data reception had to be delayed because the Ulysses probe had a malfunction and all radio traffic had to be used to correct that problem. I recall hearing something about the ISS crew checking email, but that could be just my memory playing tricks on me, or it could mean that they’ve simply got a “burst” connection which squirts emails up to them periodically, with no opportunity for them to surf the web. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2008, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-internet-access-on-the-space-station/436995/20 "2008-02-11T00:27:41Z")
Given that a stable internet connection of decent speed would be technically challenging and almost certainly quite expensive, there would have to be something more compelling than possible astronaut boredom to justify it. It’s hard to say what that would be. The comms that are available seem to serve rather well. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-internet-access-on-the-space-station/436995.md?page=2)