from grnd.to intnl. space station comunication signal doesn`n get weaker?

Answer 1

Actually the atmosphere has little to do with the loss in signal strength over distance. The signal strength has an initial value established by the equipment used to create the signal. The signal travels in several directions from the equipment that creates the signal. In most cases it actually travels in every direction from the transmitter. A device trying to receive the signal is only able to capture the energy that traveled in the direction of the receiver. If the receiver were a closed surface surrounding the transmitter then it could capture all the energy transmitted. Since the antenna on the space station is only a tiny portion of such a closed surface it can only capture a very small portion of the energy leaving the transmitter. A greater distance between the transmitter and receiver results in a smaller percentage of the energy that was originally being transmitted being captured. This concept is usually called the inverse square rule. This name comes from the relationship between distance and the strength of the signal. It turns out that the strength is proportional to the inverse of the square of the distance when the signal is transmitted in all directions. It is possible to improve on this method and NASA probably does use special antennas that transmit in a narrow cone rather than transmitting in all directions the way our broadcast radio and television stations do. This increases the percentage of the signal that the space station antenna captures but there is still a greater percentage lost to space when the space station is farther away(near the horizon) than when it is nearer(directly overhead).

Answer 2

Actually it does. It loses some energy going through the atmosphere.

That pesky atmosphere seems to cause a lot of problems. Maybe we shoud get rid of it. . . :)

Answer 3

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