Wiring An Ocean Planet
“This past April, there was a big volcanic eruption in America’s Pacific Northwest. If you missed it, you’re not alone. It happened under the ocean off the northern Oregon coast. Since then, several research ships have sent unmanned submersibles down into the undersea crater to videotape lava flows and spewing vents. In a few years, you should be able to watch such events live on the Internet 24/7. Thanks to a new underwater fiber optic cable, a new worldwide ocean observatory now under construction that could revolutionize our understanding of the deep sea environment.”
Think about this: Imagine a similar network on the Moon or Mars – or a world with subsurface oceans such as Enceladus, Europa, or maybe Ceres – a network that uses in situ resources (Silicon, etc.) to manufacture the fiber optic cable. Imagine if NASA took data coming in from all of its missions, skipped the bad habit of compartmentalization, and put it all online – in one place – for all to see – and use.
