Five innovative ways for Interplanetary Communication

Imagine that you're an astronaut who's been sent to establish a colony on Mars, where you spot something really incredible, and want to show it to your partners on earth. You might be able to laboriously transmit a still photo, but forget about streaming a live video image from the Martian surface; NASA admits that isn't possible with the level of gadgetry we now have. And even with a recent upgrade, robotic rovers on Mars have only been able to achieve a data-transmission rate of only about 256 kilobits per second. Thus scientists have been wracking their brains for decades, trying to come up with ways for fastest interplanetary communication .Here we present ten ideas that can be considered:1. An Internet That Works in Space some scientists are working to develop a modified version of the Internet, which uses a new sort of protocol called disruption-tolerant networking (DTN). Unlike the protocol used on Earth, DTN doesn't assume a continuous end-to-end connection will exist, and it hangs onto data packets that it can't immediately send, until the connection is re-established. To explain how that works, NASA uses a basketball analogy, in which a player just holds onto the ball patiently until another player is open under the basket, rather than panicking and tossing up a wild shot or throwing the ball away. In 2008, NASA ran its first test of DTN, using it to transmit dozens of images from a spacecraft located about 20 million miles from Earth .2. Array of Giant Antennas to Receive Messages Scientists have suggested building several solar system receiving stations, which would be enormous arrays of antennas stretching for many miles in different locations on Earth.The scientists and futurists working on Project Icarus—a speculative attempt to design a starship capable of reaching the nearest neighboring star system, about 2.35 trillion miles. Project Icarus' planners have suggested building several solar system receiving stations, which would be enormous arrays of antennas stretching for many miles in different locations on Earth. The antennas in such an array would work in synergy to spot and capture the faint signals containing starship messages. Because the Earth rotates, the antennas in a particular SSRS would only be pointing at the distant starship for a small fraction of each day, and the weather in that location on Earth could hinder the reception. For that reason, it might be wise to build multiple arrays of antennas in different locations on Earth, to ensure that we can stay in near-continuous communication.3. Faster-than-Light NeutrinophonesIn 2012, two mathematicians published a paper in a British scientific journal, claiming that there's a way to crunch Einstein's calculations and show that faster-than-light velocities are indeed possible. But if those dissenters turn out to be right, we'd still have to actually find some proof that particles can move faster than light speed, and so far we haven't.There was one highly-publicized 2011 experiment, in which researchers at the CERN particle accelerator in Europe supposedly clocked particles called neutrinos moving an extremely tiny bit faster than Einstein's speed limit. But as it turned out, a glitch in the fiber-optic cable in the researchers' equipment apparently caused a false reading.4. Building Satellites and Relay Stations for Other PlanetsOne of the big challenges in communicating with a Mars base is that Mars is in motion. Sometimes, a base might be turned away from the Earth, and every so often—approximately once every 780 Earth days—Mars and the Earth have the sun directly between them. Satellites normally orbit planets in Keplerian orbits, named after the 17th century astronomer Johannes Kepler, who wrote the mathematically equations that describe how satellites move. But the European and British researchers have proposed putting a pair of communications satellites around Mars in something called a non-Keplerian orbit, which basically means that instead of moving in a circular or elliptical path around Mars, they'd be off to the side a bit, so that the planet wouldn't be at the center. In order to stay in that position, however, the satellites would have to counteract the effects of gravity, which would pull them toward Mars. To keep them in place, the scientists have proposed equipping them with electric ion propulsion engines, powered by solar-generated electricity and using tiny amounts of xenon gas as propellant. That would enable the satellites to relay radio signals continuously, even during periods when Mars and Earth are in conjunction.5. Use the Sun as a Signal Booster How would it be, if Communications craft can use the sun as a lens to magnify signals from the starship and transmit them to Earth?Project Icarus researchers hatched an idea. According to Einstein's relativity theories, extremely massive objects' gravitational forces can actually deflect light that's passing near them and concentrate it, the way a hand-held magnifying glass does. That gave the Project Icarus think tank the idea of using that effect to focus and boost transmissions from a distant spacecraft. The way they would do it, admittedly, is a little tough for a non-physicist to fathom: A spacecraft capable of receiving communications transmissions would be positioned in interstellar space opposite the direction that the starship is going, about 51 billion miles away from the sun. The communications craft would then use the sun as a lens to magnify the signals it gets from the distant starship, and then would transmit them back to Earth though some other system, such as a network of satellites with laser links.