this post was submitted on 13 Nov 2023
124 points (98.4% liked)

Space

8734 readers
88 users here now

Share & discuss informative content on: Astrophysics, Cosmology, Space Exploration, Planetary Science and Astrobiology.

Rules

  1. Be respectful and inclusive.
  2. No harassment, hate speech, or trolling.
  3. Engage in constructive discussions.
  4. Share relevant content.
  5. Follow guidelines and moderators' instructions.
  6. Use appropriate language and tone.
  7. Report violations.
  8. Foster a continuous learning environment.

Picture of the Day

The Busy Center of the Lagoon Nebula

Related Communities

πŸ”­ Science

πŸš€ Engineering

🌌 Art and Photography

Other Cool Links

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
124
NASA can’t talk to its Mars robots for two weeks because the sun is in the way (www.engadget.com)
submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
33 comments fedilink hide all child comments
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

We use very large radio dishes to communicate with craft at Mars, so that the spacecraft can use smaller dishes and less power. In order to add a relay at L4/L5, that relay would also need very large dishes and high power usage to reach the craft at Mars. Probably larger than anything we have in earth orbit today.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Could we use lasers instead of radio, like the Starlink laser inter-links or the NASA ILLUMA-T/LCRD demonstration?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Maybe in the future, but the existing Mars orbiters need to hear a strong radio signal. And laser communication has not yet been tested outside of Earth orbit. It will need to be significantly scaled up to handle the 2-3AU distance.