I don’t see why they can’t FReep from space.
Well this might explain why.
Communications with the simulated mission control and loved-ones will take up to 40 minutes, the time that a radio signal takes to cross the void between Earth and a spaceship on Mars.
That means 80 minutes between post. I would get pretty frustrated. I get really annoyed sometimes when it takes a minute to refresh a screen with a lot of graphics during peak internet traffic.
the time lag waiting for a response to a post would be maddening. And can you imagine a flame war at that distance? It would be fun to read those replies.