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What formula is used to figure the time it takes a radio signal to travel from Mars to Earth?
Radio waves, like all other waveforms in the electromagnetic spectrum travel at what is known as the speed of light. i.e. 3x10 to the power 8 metres per second (300,000,000)
but the distance between the earth and mars varies enormously depending on their relative positions in their orbits around the sun. Anything from approx 35 million miles at it's nearest to about 340 million miles or thereabouts at it's furthest.
So roughly 3 minutes minimum to about 30 minutes maximum.
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CoachOn the day that Spirit landed, it took about 9 minutes and 30 seconds for a signal to go from Earth to Mars. We communicate with the rovers using radio waves which travel at the speed of light. We haven't found anything that travels faster than the speed of light, so there is no way to get our signals to and from Mars faster. Since there is one fixed speed at which our signals can travel, the time that it takes the signal to travel from Earth to Mars is based on the distance between Earth and Mars. The two planets are moving apart in their orbits, so the time for a signal to travel between them is increasing. By Spirit's sol 90 it will take about 16 minutes for a signal to travel between Earth and Mars.
Since Earth and Mars move around the Sun in different orbits, sometimes they are on the same side of the Sun and closer together and other times they are on opposite sided and farther apart.
Radio signals travel at the speed of light, so the time for radio signals to travel between Earth and Mars is between 4.3 minutes when they are closest and 21 minutes when they are farthest apart.
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Why did it take 7 minutes for the radio signal to travel from the Curiosity back to earth?
Radio waves travel "at the speed of light" which, though very fast, is still a finite speed. Mars is far away so it takes 7 minutes for the radio waves to travel the distance from Curiosity to the Mars orbiter that then relays radio communications to Earth. How much delay in the electronics of the relay station in the orbiter and the electronics on Earth I cannot be certain, but certainly a measurable amount though probably less than a few seconds.
If a spacecraft is approaching the earth relative to the radio signals it send out the signal received on the earth have?
Shorter wavelength, higher frequency.
The distance to mars is 7.5 x 1010 meters how long does it take for a radio signal from mars pathfinder to be received by nasa on earth?
light travels at approximately 300,000,000 m/s, so to pass 7.5*1010 meters it would take: 7.5*1010/300,000,000=250 seconds = 4.167 minutes P.S. Mars is not that close, in real life the signal takes about ten minutes to travel either way.
What is the advantage of a helical wire satellite antenna?
Circular polarization characteristics of a helical antenna help offset the effects of spin modulation from satellites in motion, that is, the tendency for satellites to spin causing the position of their antennae to change rapidly in accordance with the spin, causing a fluctuation in the signal as received by a fixed signal on earth. Circular polarization of the earth fixed antenna reduces the fluctuating effects of the satellite's spin on the recived signal.
Robotic spacecraft on Mars have sent radio signals back to earth the distance from Mars to Earth at its greatest isi 401300000 km About how many minutes would it take a signal to reach Earth?
it takes 15768 mins it takes 15768 mins It takes 1337 Minutes
