To read the tribute to SFC Marcus Muralles, please click here
Saturday, January 08, 2005
To Boldly Go...
Vincent G. Cerf has a plan. A bold plan. "Who is Vincent G. Cerf?" you ask. You don't know? He's the guy who designed. ARPANET. "What in the world is that?" you ask. Well... it's what laid the groundwork that made it possible for you to read this post. In a nutshell, Mr. Cerf, not Al Gore, invented the Internet.
Back to his plan. In the same way that his vision connected all corners of our globe, he wants to connect all the planets in the solar system.
If we're not sending anyone to Mars until 2020, who's he planning on IMing on Mars in the mean time?
Back to his plan. In the same way that his vision connected all corners of our globe, he wants to connect all the planets in the solar system.
The new Internet across the solar system would help scientists understand other planets and would also help astronauts in their communications with earth..."Even light takes six minutes from Earth to Mars, and the farthest planets are 40 minutes apart. So our protocol had to be faster than light," he said, adding that it took him five years to design the new one.I find this interesting, if for no other reason than "Faster Than Light Physics" has been routinely condmemned as science fiction hogwash. (I was interested in physics for a while... relativity intrigues me...) Granted, there is facinating research being done on the possibility of superluminal particles (tachyons), but it's not realistic in real world, practical situations anytime in the near future.
Mars should be connected by 2009 and Jupiter by 2012, Cerf told IANS on the sidelines of the 92nd Indian Science Congress here.You know, I'm all in favor of advances in science and technology. And this sounds like a great plan, if he can get past that whole causality problem (Einstein's theory of special relativity, etc). I only have one question .
The development comes in the wake of US plans to send a man to Mars some time after 2020.
If we're not sending anyone to Mars until 2020, who's he planning on IMing on Mars in the mean time?
