Roqoo Depot

Space Communications

Ever wonder how we plan to talk to manned spacecraft when and if we ever do achieve the speeds necessary to explore our solar system and the greater galaxy? Radio waves travel at the speed of light are just too slow to make an effective means of communication. At that speed, communication with a manned mission to the surface of Mars could take up to ten minutes to send a message one way. That’s twenty minutes between the sneeze and gesundheit. Furthermore, radio waves only travel in one direction. Meaning there would be butt loads of math involved just to figure out what direction to point the transmitter if you were trying to contact someone outside the solar system.

So... can you hear me now? Mhmm... can you hear me now?

I actually once wrote an article for this very space that was titled, “Top 5 Totally Misused Sci-Fi Technologies”. In it I outlined the ways I found various sci-fi staples were being misused. In hindsight, I do wish I had included communications on the list. Star Trek calls it “sub-space” communication, and Star Wars calls it “The Holonet.” Both imply that the signal is being broadcast through some means outside normal space-time. Yet somehow anyone with the necessary antennae array, such as the one busted off the Millennium Falcon in Star Wars Ep VI: The Return of The Jedi, can pick up the signal wherever in the galaxy they may be. Continue Reading Space Communications…