Naked Science Forum

Non Life Sciences => Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology => Topic started by: thedoc on 05/07/2016 11:25:58

Title: How are signals sent from space probes to earth?
Post by: thedoc on 05/07/2016 11:25:58
Arun asked the Naked Scientists:































   What is the media that carries the signals from space probes like Voyager to receivers on Earth (if it is RADAR or LASER, what does it travel through?)































What do you think?
Title: Re: How are signals sent from space probes to earth?
Post by: evan_au on 08/03/2016 07:47:59
Quote from: Arun
What is ... the signals from space probes like Voyager to receivers on Earth (if it is RADAR or LASER...)
To date, most communication to space probes has been with radio waves:

There have been experiments using lasers for communication in near-Earth orbit; they offer the possibility of very high speed communication (but not on foggy or cloudy days). Lasers are also a natural for communication with submarines (since radio waves penetrate the water even worse than light).

Some satellites have an emergency omnidirectional communication channel using frequencies less than microwave frequencies (similar to those used for TV broadcasts), in case they lose the ability to point their high-gain antenna. This lets ground controllers investigate (and hopefully fix) any problems.

Quote
What is the media that carries the signals from space probes like Voyager to receivers on Earth (if it is RADAR or LASER, what does it travel through?)
The medium is the electromagnetic field. This field permeates the vacuum of space, and is able to carry both RADAR and LASER signals.

This medium works very well in space - you can easily see the star Betelgeuse with the Naked eye (700 light-years away). And we can still pick up the faint signals from the Voyager probes, on the edge of the Solar System.
Title: Hear the answer to this question on our show
Post by: thedoc on 05/07/2016 16:19:32
We discussed this question on our  show
Kat Arney put this cosmic quandary to astronomer Andrew Norton, professor from the Open University...
[Transcript to follow]
Click to visit the show page for the podcast in which this question is answered. (http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/podcasts/naked-scientists/show/20160705/) Alternatively, [chapter podcast=1001386 track=16.07.05/Naked_Scientists_Show_16.07.05_1005360.mp3](https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenakedscientists.com%2FHTML%2Ftypo3conf%2Fext%2Fnaksci_podcast%2Fgnome-settings-sound.gif&hash=f2b0d108dc173aeaa367f8db2e2171bd) listen to the answer now[/chapter] or [download as MP3] (http://nakeddiscovery.com/downloads/split_individual/16.07.05/Naked_Scientists_Show_16.07.05_1005360.mp3)