In Fiction
In the Star Trek universe, members of the United Federation of Planets often send messages, in a generally instantaneous manner. Whilst this is evidently a fictional scenario, it depicts in theory what an interplanetary Internet could look like, or at the least how communication between networks and hosts could occur over vast distances. In this particular instance, the system relies on the theory of "subspace", a realm of the universe through which data can pass instantly from any point.
In the Star Wars expanded universe, the Holonet functions much like an interplanetary version of the Internet, with near-instantaneous networking between computing devices over long distances. It is a major source of news and information, and is central to much of galactic culture and history.
In Firefly/Serenity, the Anglo-Sino Alliance use an internet-like system across their extrasolar system called the cortex, and any transmissions across this net are called waves.
The extranet of the Mass Effect universe is also an example of a fictional interplanetary Internet.
The ansible is an interstellar faster than light (FTL) communications device, coined by Ursula K. Le Guin and used by a number of other writers.
Read more about this topic: Interplanetary Internet
Famous quotes containing the word fiction:
“The purpose of a work of fiction is to appeal to the lingering after-effects in the reader’s mind as differing from, say, the purpose of oratory or philosophy which respectively leave people in a fighting or thoughtful mood.”
—F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940)
“Individual science fiction stories may seem as trivial as ever to the blinder critics and philosophers of today—but the core of science fiction, its essence ... has become crucial to our salvation if we are to be saved at all.”
—Isaac Asimov (1920–1992)