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Space probe communications
Article By:
Edwards, Charles D. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Pasadena, California.
Last reviewed:2006
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.YB061090
One of the biggest challenges of deep space exploration is communicating over links spanning distances of solar system scale. Compared to a typical commercial link between a geostationary satellite and a user on the Earth's surface, which spans a distance of roughly 40,000 km (25,000 mi), a link between Mars and Earth can be up to 4 × 108 km (2.5 × 108 mi), and links to a Jupiter spacecraft can approach 109 km (6 × 108 mi). Because the performance of a communications system scales inversely as the square of link distance, these deep-space links pose unique problems and, in many cases, fundamentally limit the quantity of scientific data that can be returned.
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