This personal Web access, called the Crew Support LAN, takes advantage of existing communication links to and from the station and gives astronauts the ability to browse and use the Web. The system will provide astronauts with direct private communications to enhance their quality of life during long-duration missions by helping to ease the isolation associated with life in a closed environment.
During periods when the station is actively communicating with the ground using high-speed Ku-band communications, the crew will have remote access to the Internet via a ground computer. The crew will view the desktop of the ground computer using an onboard laptop and interact remotely with their keyboard touchpad.
Astronauts will be subject to the same computer use guidelines as government employees on Earth. In addition to this new capability, the crew will continue to have official e-mail, Internet Protocol telephone and limited videoconferencing capabilities.
I so can’t wait for the first thread titled “ISS question (need answer fast!)”. It sounds like they’re not actually getting internet access, but more like a Remote Desktop feed to a ground computer. I wonder what the feasibility would be to get something like satelitte internet for them.
Not likely, I suspect. Considering that those satellites are in geostationary orbit, and the ISS is whipping around the globe at high speed, I think that would be much less practical than just direct radio communication with the surface.
