If you live in a major city you probably have broadband internet. Broadband internet is internet that works like this: you ask for some content and it is delivered. Dial-up internet is a little different - you ask for content then get coffee. When you return your content is there! According to some random statistics I found published on the internet, 55% of US households have broadband, while only 10% still use dial up. Broadband just isn't available everywhere but it is far better than it used to be years ago when you had to live in a major city to be able to get broadband speeds. 10 years ago I was still struggling with ISDN at 128kbps.

It came as a bit of a surprise to me that we are working on an interplanetary internet network when we have just only really entered the age of fast broadband here at home (on Earth, that is). My first thoughts were "Why do Martians need internet?" and "Did SETI actually find something they aren't telling us?" My second thought was "I know we are planning a moon colony, but surely there are easier ways to deliver fast access to internet porn?"

It turns out I had no idea why we need an interplanetary internet system. What NASA is trying to do is create a communications system they can use to carry data between the Earth and all of their various probes, rovers, orbiters, and spacecraft. Martians need not apply. What is even more interesting is that the system is all about communicating very very slowly, across huge distances. Packet speeds are such that a handshaking exchange between a Martian rover and Earth mission control takes 16 minutes! Dial-up users rejoice, at least your coffee is piping hot when your data gets there. At 16 minutes for a handshake, interplanetary porn isn't going to happen anytime soon.

You can find more information here at the IEEE Spectrum site