SpaceX blows up Starship tank to test new metal alloy

[Armchair]

Exactly what I said. You won't be able to understand. And that is why you won't be able to compete.

 

[FairAndUnbiased]

Exactly what I said. You won't be able to understand. And that is why you won't be able to compete.

idiot comment.

 

[jamahir]

until Elon Musk puts up an extraterrestrial satellite that can relay messages between objects without line of sight to each other its not impressive. Don't lump Chinese in with you.

The now-sadly-ended Mars One project looked at SpaceX for its purpose instead of at China or even Russia.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

The now-sadly-ended Mars One project looked at SpaceX for its purpose instead of at China or even Russia.

China's space program (even though they've been around for decades) so far hasn't been able to send anything beyond the moon.

Meanwhile Musk (just for laughs) sent his car out and it is currently 125Million miles away (that's more than the distance to the Sun). I'm pretty sure they can handle a moon orbit.

 

[jamahir]

Meanwhile Musk (just for laughs) sent his car out and it is currently 200Million miles away (that's twice the distance to the Sun).

I am not very knowledgeable of this car except knowing about it roughly and watching some of the vids. My question is how is the current distance from Earth to the car known ?

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

I am not very knowledgeable of this car except knowing about it roughly and watching some of the vids. My question is how is the current distance from Earth to the car known ?

https://www.whereisroadster.com/

 

[FairAndUnbiased]

China's space program (even though they've been around for decades) so far hasn't been able to send anything beyond the moon.

Meanwhile Musk (just for laughs) sent his car out and it is currently 125Million miles away (that's more than the distance to the Sun). I'm pretty sure they can handle a moon orbit.

View attachment 644624

Is the car under control? Is it functional in any way?

If not then it's just space junk making space more dangerous.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Is the car under control? Is it functional in any way?

If not then it's just space junk making space more dangerous.

At least it isn't at the bottom of the Pacific like China's only attempted interplanetary mission 9 years ago.

 

[FairAndUnbiased]

At least it isn't at the bottom of the Pacific like China's only attempted interplanetary mission 9 years ago.

last I remembered China has the world's sole working non-terrestrial relay satellite.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

last I remembered China has the world's sole working non-terrestrial relay satellite.

What do think all the US satellites around Mars and other planets are doing???

2012

 

[FairAndUnbiased]

What do think all the US satellites around Mars and other planets are doing???

Curiosity has a X band radio for direct Earth-Mars communication, so the risk is very low. Even if all the satellites went down it doesn't matter. For all we know, NASA could be cueing Curiosity to the position of the relays using the X-band radio and telling it where to look.

Yutu doesn't have any line of sight thus relies completely on the relay satellite, making requirements for the relay much higher. It has to be able to autonomously track the relay satellite.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Curiosity has a X band radio for direct Earth-Mars communication, so the risk is very low. Even if all the satellites went down it doesn't matter. For all we know, NASA could be cueing Curiosity to the position of the relays using the X-band radio and telling it where to look.

Yutu doesn't have any line of sight thus relies completely on the relay satellite, making requirements for the relay much higher. It has to be able to autonomously track the relay satellite.

Remember Mars is rotating and also moving around the sun. The rover will find itself on the opposite side. Plus unlike the moon they have to deal with dust storms. Spirit and Opportunity had solar panels which would affect power reliability if covered in dust so having relays was an expected need. Nuclear power allows Curiosity to not have to worry about power levels so X-Band is possible. Plus it is much larger at 3m by 2.8m by 2.1m

https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/spacecraft/rover/communication/#low-gain

Communications

Curiosity has three antennas that serve as both its "voice" and its "ears." They are located on the rover equipment deck (its "back"). Having multiple antennas provides back-up options just in case they are needed.

• Ultra-High Frequency Antenna
• X-band High-Gain Antenna
• X-band Low-Gain Antenna

Ultra-High Frequency Antenna
Most often, Curiosity sends radio waves through its ultra-high frequency (UHF) antenna (about 400 Megahertz) to communicate with Earth through NASA's Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiters. Because the rover's and orbiters' antennas are close-range, they act a little like walkie-talkies compared to the long range of the low-gain and high-gain antennas. Using orbiters to relay messages is beneficial because they are closer to the rover than the Deep Space Network (DSN) antennas on Earth and they have Earth in their field of view for much longer time periods than the rover does on the ground. That allows them to send more data back to Earth at faster rates. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter relays most of the data between the rover and Earth.

Main Function Transmitting Data to Earth through Mars Orbiters
Radio Frequency Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) band (about 400 megahertz)
Transmission Rates Up to 2 megabits per second on the rover-to-orbiter relay link.



The X-Band High-Gain Antenna
Curiosity uses its high-gain antenna to receive commands for the mission team back on Earth. The high-gain antenna can send a "beam" of information in a specific direction, and it is steerable, so the antenna can move to point itself directly to any antenna on Earth. The benefit of having a steerable antenna is that the entire rover doesn't necessarily have to change positions to talk to Earth. Like turning your neck to talk to someone beside you rather than turning your entire body, the rover can save energy by moving only the antenna.

Main Function Transmitting or Receiving Data
Location Mounted mid-aft-port-side of Curiosity's deck ("back")
Size Hexagonally shaped 1 foot (0.3 meters) in diameter
Transmission Rates 160 bits per second or faster to the Deep Space Network's 112-foot-diameter (34-meter-diameter) antennas or at 800 bits per second or faster to the Deep Space Network's 230-foot-diameter (70-meter diameter)




The X-Band Low-Gain Antenna
Curiosity uses its low-gain antenna primarily for receiving signals. This antenna can send and receive information in every direction; that is, it is "omni-directional." The antenna transmits radio waves at a low rate to the Deep Space Network antennas on Earth.

Main Function Receiving Data
Radio Frequency X band (7 to 8 gigahertz)

 

[dbc]

Curiosity has a X band radio for direct Earth-Mars communication, so the risk is very low. Even if all the satellites went down it doesn't matter. For all we know, NASA could be cueing Curiosity to the position of the relays using the X-band radio and telling it where to look.

Yutu doesn't have any line of sight thus relies completely on the relay satellite, making requirements for the relay much higher. It has to be able to autonomously track the relay satellite.

Intelsat 1 satellite acted as a lunar relay for the Apollo 11 mission in 1969 - it relayed the first live images from the moon landing.

 

[FairAndUnbiased]

Intelsat 1 satellite acted as a lunar relay for the Apollo 11 mission in 1969 - it relayed the first live images from the moon landing.

Apollo 11 was also within line of sight of the Earth which meant that it always had a backup direct link and even the relay can be cued by a small signal from the ground telling them where to look.

 

[dbc]

Apollo 11 was also within line of sight of the Earth which meant that it always had a backup direct link and even the relay can be cued by a small signal from the ground telling them where to look.

No Apollo 11 was always in LOS with Intelsat in geosynchronous orbit but not always in LOS with the earth specifically Houston due to the earth rotation.