How do Astronaut Access Internet in Out of Space

Astronauts in space right now are on the ISS

Since the only astronauts in space right now are on the ISS, and there is nothing else that will be happening any time soon to take astronauts anywhere else, the answer is still sufficient. But what *IF* we did have astronauts heading to Mars or the Moon? Would they have internet access? My guess: Mission to the moon? perhaps. Mission to Mars, no.

To have internet access on a trip to Mars, you need a network. The only network in place right now is called the Deep Space Network.

Communications With Earth - Mars Science Laboratory

It is what the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity and Cassini use to communicate with Earth and send us all of those pretty pictures. Air time on the DSN is very limited. Scientists will not be happy if they can't communicate with those probes because an astronaut flying to Mars wants to watch Gangnam Style on youtube.

Now, there are some new ways for communications that are being developed. My favorite is the laser communications project that is still very much in development. We have sent images to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter using lasers, and have received data from Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADDEE) over lasers as well.

So, that trip to Mars. forward we have a tendency to get the optical maser comms operating, they still wouldn't have net access, a minimum of not the method you're thinking. the explanation for this can be the time it takes for the info to travel at the speed of sunshine to and from Mars. If Mars is on the opposite aspect of the sun, it take regarding quarter-hour for signals to travel between the planet and Mars. thus once you click on the video, it'll take quarter-hour for that signal to create it to earth, and so another quarter-hour to send the video from earth to Mars. thus no internet browsing. Email, on the opposite hand, sure. as well as attachments. that may be fine.

Question and Answer from Quora.

Astronauts on journeys to the moon all right might have net access, although, again, it most likely will not be like internet browsing and streaming Netflix. It solely takes 1/2 second for knowledge to travel between the planet and therefore the moon, therefore the latency will not be a difficulty. The information measure is that the issue which might be resolved with the optical maser comms.