»It's on America's tortured brow

Do you want to IM with Martians? Vinton Cerf considers the possibility.

NASA is already studying designs for a "Mars network" of multiple orbiting relay satellites. These satellites would be launched over a period of years, possibly starting in 2005, and the constellation would be replenished by new launches as older satellites' orbits decay. This would enable connectivity between Earth and Mars much (or even most) of the time. The frequent and relatively high-speed connectivity provided by the planned Mars network wouldn't be as "stable" from minute to minute as a terrestrial backbone.