We all like a nice fast Internet connection. There is nothing worse than sitting and waiting for the progress bar to inch across the screen as yet another software update needs to be installed. Globally, the average connection speed is around 17 Mbps, which is quite decent. The United States has a pretty impressive average of 21 Mbps.
But, what happens when you go off into outer space? Take the International Space Station for instance. They do Skype calls from there, so they must have an Internet connection. One would be forgiven for thinking it might be rather slow. It is quite far away from earth after all.
Actually, the ISS Internet link is on a par with the average connection speed of Australia. At 10 Mbps, the connection features fairly high up the list and is delivered via satellite links from NASA headquarters.
However, it's not all blinding fast page loads for the astronauts in the ISS. Owing to the distance from the earth, it takes the signal a while to get there and back, resulting in a latency of well over a second, which can make the connection feel a bit like a dial up link at times.
