3 ms·
Not even GPS transmits to the satellites, it only relies on observations of what the satellites sent. And pulsars are quite a bit further away than tens of lig
by lorenzhs 9y ago
Not even GPS transmits to the satellites, it only relies on observations of what the satellites sent.
And pulsars are quite a bit further away than tens of light minutes :) Mars is currently 14 light minutes from Earth. PSR J2144-3933 is one of the nearest known pulsars, and it's some 587 light years away.
- pc86 9y agoYes but if we're using it as a beacon the distance is irrelevant, isn't it? It's been "transmitting" for much longer than 587 years, we're already receiving a signal, and that's what we're using?
- lorenzhs 9y agoExactly. The post I replied to said "One wouldn't be transmitting to pulsars and awaiting a response", and I expanded on that. The whole subthread of https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16288955 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16288955 doesn't make much sense because nobody defined what they mean by "latency" and people are talking about different things.