3 ms·

Thanks! According to sources [1, 2] there was a period of time during which it was pinging multiple satellites. Surely this symmetry doesn't persist in a datase

Thanks! According to sources [1, 2] there was a period of time during which it was pinging multiple satellites. Surely this symmetry doesn't persist in a dataset comprising pings at different times to different satellites (which themselves are moving)? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia_Airlines_Flight_370 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia_Airlines_Flight_370 [2] http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/14/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-plane/index.html?hpt=ias_c1 http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/14/world/asia/malaysia-airlin...

hga 13y ago
They're in geosynchronous orbit, so they rotate with the earth, are always over the same spot on earth at the equator. Don't know which satellite series is used for this service, but the Inmarsat constellations aren't particularly large: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inmarsat#Satellites http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inmarsat#Satellites, so it could be they only got solid data---and it's not very specific---from one satellite. I also wouldn't put much confidence in mass media reports saying "satellites", and the Wikipedia plural use is probably based on them.