I think it’s important we think about how to make ZEC useable in space throughout the Galaxy and beyond. What needs to be done to get a Zcash node into orbit? Also what needs to be done to make a ZEC transaction work from here to Mars?
I’ll ask Andrew R. Morgan to take my Raspberry Pi ZEC Node back to the IIS.
Actually Robert Nelson (from the Mars Exploration Rover Team) owes me a favor, his team will update the Rover 2.0 Firmware and implement the zecwallet into the data exchange channel code.
Is there anything else I can do for you?
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No problem, it just takes a while to sync the node over a quantum-entangled network link. Easier with lightwallet 
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Realistically you would need really powerful radio transmitters and receivers all over the planet and probably a network of satellites orbiting between the two planets
I’ve mentioned a Zcash cubesat once or twice, Im sure theres some legal red tape but it cant be that hard
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Interesting. Blockstream has managed to get a satellite Blockstream Satellite: Bitcoin blockchain broadcasts - same should be done for ZEC. This would be great for people all over the world without access to internet or financial services. It would be more useful anyways than Blockstreams BTC satellite since ZEC can actually be USED by people as digital cash. Also imo would make the blockchain more valuable having infrastructure running off Earth Incase something catastrophic should ever occur here.
With the current consensus protocol, cost-effective mining seems limited to cislunar space. Beyond that, the multiple-second latency between a Earth and a remote mining rig will decrease the cost-effectiveness of its hash power. (This is assuming that energy and manufacturing costs are not lower in deep space than in Earth’s vicinity).
Consequentially, consider the distance from Earth to Zcash users trying to send transactions. By default, shielded transactions expire if not mined within 100 blocks [oops it’s 20, see below] of the latest block seen by the node at the time of generator, i.e., their anchor. With a 2.5 minute target block interval, this allows a total of roughly 250 minutes for the anchor block to propagate from miners on Earth to the distant node, the transaction to be prepared, and the result be sent back to the miners on Earth. Thus, transmission time needs to be smaller than 125 minutes. At light speed, that means a distance of 125 light-minutes, or 15 Astronomical Units.
Thus, in Zcash Sapling with its default parameters, we may expect shielded transaction generation to work reliable on Saturn (9.6±1 AU from Earth), but not from Uranus (19.2±1 AU from Earth).
With Zcash Blossom reducing the target block time to 75 seconds, a 100-block expiry would restrict nodes to residing within 7.5 AU on Earth. Thus, Blossom’s default parameters will exclude the unbanked on Saturn (but still serve Jupiter and the Asteroid Belt). Zcash users on Saturn will experience inexplicable transaction expiry errors when Blossom activates, until they manually adjust their txexpirydelta parameter, which is terrible UX.
@daira, @str4d, @lindanaeunlee, I urge you to ensure that Blossom doubles the default expiration time to compensate for the shorter block target time, thereby mitigating this regression. [already done! see below.]
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P.S. To ensure that such regressions don’t go unnoticed in the future, please add nodes on Saturn to the zcashd testing infrastructure. Thanks in advance.
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Planetary value pools linked by a turnstile-gateways - any volunteers to make a ZIP
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Well if you lot hadn’t have chosen flippin zebras we could have done this:
Try doing that with a zebra and without a blender and/or PETA not getting really really upset at you. but noooooooooo you had to have zebras. well you got them. now look where we are. lacking in space ambassadors.
I mean there are tardigrades on the moon! (thanks Israel! at least you know what the right idea is)
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But I like zebras… they’re cute… fluffy… funny… 
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fluffy? have you ever seen a zebra? they are fluffy like a horse…
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Looks like a kind of “fluffy Elvis thing” going on…
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Excellent! Thanks, @daira!
But what, default expiry is just 20 blocks? For some reason I was sure it’s 100…
So to redo the math, it’s 25 light minutes, or 3 Astronomical Units, which (on a bad day) is barely enough to reach Mars. Oh no! Think of the pool Asteroid Belt miners, toiling in the vacuum of space, wishing for just a bit of financial privacy, but not getting their transactions mined!
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Saw this video and it got me thinking about this thread again:
So if this happened or some kind of global EMP event happened in all corners of Earth, wouldnt most blockchains including Zcash be severely screwed up and maybe never work again when things settled down?? If the EMP was large enough in theory couldn’t it wipe everything out? // Bitcoin may be the only one that has a chance due to it having a satellite in space already.
Things are getting crazier on this planet, Zcash must be protected and I think its important we think about these things.
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Very interesting read, thanks for that