SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- In space, no one can hear you scream. But scoring an Internet hookup suddenly isn't out of the question.NASA scientists have developed software they hope will lead to an Internet-like network in deep space. It's not that astronauts will be watching "Alien" on Hulu.com. The goal of the technology NASA has been testing is to get spacecraft to communicate in a networked way like computers now do on Earth. It will make missions easier to manage.
The technology is young at this point: Engineers have been sending images between a spacecraft and computers on the ground that are simulating landers, orbiters and other essential parts of a Mars mission.
Think of the way space communication works now as manual labor. Sending messages between antennas on Earth and antennas on spaceships requires heavy human involvement because of the great distances involved and the method of transmission.
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