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We haven't put GPS satellites around Mars quite yet. I'm guessing that won't happen until it gets terraformed.
by FreeFull 11y ago
We haven't put GPS satellites around Mars quite yet. I'm guessing that won't happen until it gets terraformed.
- sliverstorm 11y agoOn the other hand if we are coming in from space in the first place, it might not be too terribly hard to drop a few satellites off on your way down?
- msandford 11y agoFurther if you're not looking for realtime direction finding and you're willing to wait a few minutes for a fix, you can get away with far fewer satellites. Putting 6 small satellites in orbit and getting position fixes every hour would still be way better than nothing.
- scott_karana 11y agoHow would the satellites themselves maintain their proper positions relative to Mars, without ground stations to orient against?
- jessaustin 11y agoWe already stipulated that we're landing something on the surface. That could include a stationary transmitter, which satellites could use to periodically update their location and velocity.
- scott_karana 11y agoYeah, agreed, my comment was meant to politely point out the necessity to the people thinking we could get away with "dropping a few satellites" ;)
- afarrell 11y agoAll of these things can be done remotely without any wetware on Mars.
- scott_karana 11y ago"How?"
- JoeAltmaier 11y agoLike we do everything on and around Mars now.
- Sanddancer 11y agoNeutron stars -- http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/zombie-stars-sidebar.html http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/zombie-stars-si...
- JoeAltmaier 11y agoIt could be set up years ahead of any significant ground presence, at a fairly small cost.
- yellowapple 11y agoExisting GPS satellites orient themselves by ground stations, so we'd need at least some ground presence. Said presence doesn't have to be manned, though.
- JoeAltmaier 11y agoOr they could orient by celestial navigation. Or have their position measured remotely and updated from Earth.
- grecy 11y agoThat being said, how many satellites are orbiting Mars right now that could be used to help determine position?
- yellowapple 11y agoI think terraformed is long after we'd want GPS. Once we have any sort of Martian colony (which is usually a prerequisite for terraforming, not the other way around) and the ability to build rockets and fuel from Martian resources, it should be straightforward for Martians to set up a GPS network of their own (easier than Earth, probably, due to the lower gravity and thinner atmosphere).