NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center here successfully communicated last year from a ground station to an orbiting spacecraft via the Internet. Its Operating Missions as Nodes on the Internet (OMNI) project made the craft an active node on the Net and gave it its own floating address.

PC Magazine called this “a truly far-out idea” and labeled it a trend to watch.

Now that the Net has been extended to space, any hvacr contractors who suddenly get inquiries on their web-sites from Mars should contact NASA about the first available space flight. Of course, please remind your Martian prospects that it may be a little while before you can get to them.

Publication date: 01/15/2001