Why is there a time lag in signal transmission to mars?

Question

I've been looking for an explanation for very long. As much as am sure there is something very direct and obvious about it, considering how frequently it is mentioned in all discussions about mars, i havnt been able to find out "why". If you could also please suggest somewhere i could find the theory, it'll be gr8!

Answer 1

Any transmission to Mars, or to any object for that matter must be carried in the electromagnetic spectrum which moves at the speed of light, approximately 300,000KPS. Therefore it takes time for energy to cross any distance.
For instance it takes light slightly more than eight minutes to travel from the sun to us.
The light you see when you look out the window left the sun eight minutes prior to you seeing it.
I hope this clears it up.

Answer 2

Mars Signal Light

Answer 3

Radio signals travel at the speed of light, which is 186,282 miles per second in a vacuum. This velocity is constant no matter how fast the source is moving. Radio waves like light are both particles and waves, only much less energetic and with a correspondingly much greater wavelength. Mars is so far away from us that even when it's as close to us as it ever comes, it takes radio signals more than 4 minutes to reach a spacecraft or astronaut at Mars and another 4 minutes for a response to be received here on Earth. When the planet is on the opposite side of the Sun from us, that signal travel time is almost 20 minutes each way. This is one of the foundations of Einstein's Theory of Relativity. The concept of light travelling at a fixed velocity, no matter how fast the emitter itself is moving has important implications for the origin, evolution and nature of the universe.

Answer 4

Radio signals travel through space at the speed of light which is 186,000 Miles per Second. Mars is a lot farther
away than 186,000 Miles so it takes much more than a second for a radio signal to go from here to there, or vice versa.

Radio signals to the Moon require about 1 1/4 second to get there. It is roughly 250,000 miles from Earth.

Mars is orbiting the Sun.
The Earth is orbiting the Sun, but at a different speed from that of Mars.
So, sometimes Earth is fairly close to Mars (60,000,000 Miles) and at other times way apart (250,000,000 Miles).
Do the math and you will see that over the shorter distance radio signals take about 5 + minutes to make the trip. Over the longer distance radio signals take more than 22 minutes to get from the Earth to Mars (or vice versa).

Answer 5

Transmission signals are electromagnetic waves which travel at the speed of light(3*10^8 metres/sec).As the distance between the earth and Mars is about 78 million kilometres,the waves of the transmission signals from earth take some time to cover this distance and reach Mars.

Answer 6

Radio waves travel at the speed of light.
The speed of light in a vacuum is an important physical constant denoted by the letter c for constant or the Latin word celeritas meaning "swiftness". It is the speed of all electromagnetic radiation in a vacuum, including visible light; more generally, it is the speed of anything with zero rest mass.

In metric units, c is exactly 299,792,458 metres per second (1,079,252,848.8 km/h). The fundamental SI unit of length, the metre, has been defined since October 21, 1983, as the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second; any increase in the precision of the measurement of the speed of light would refine the definition of the metre, but not alter the numerical value of c. 3×108 m/s is commonly used in rough estimates. In imperial units, the speed of light is about 186,282.397 miles per second, which is about one foot per nanosecond.

The distance between the Earth and Mars varies greatly:
Mars’ average distance from the Sun is roughly 230 million km (1.5 AU) and its orbital period is 687 (Earth) days. The solar day (or sol) on Mars is only slightly longer than an Earth day: 24 hours, 39 minutes, and 35.244 seconds. A Martian year is equal to 1.8809 Earth years, or 1 year, 320 days, and 18.2 hours.
The earth can be over 94 million miles from the sun, so depending on where the earth and mars are in their orbits, the distance between the two planets can vary from roughly 60 million miles to 250 million miles.
So any radio transmission between the two is not instantaneous. Even at the closest distance and light traveling at 669600000 miles per hour. Divide distance by the speed that will give you the time:
60000000/669600000 = .0896 hours which is 5.376 minutes.

Answer 7

NASA would little question do each little thing in it somewhat is potential to rescue a team stranded on Mars yet except that they had a rescue deliver waiting to depart with in a quick quantity of time and the planetary alignment replaced into of their desire the astronauts would desire to be out of success. . lots of the Mars manned touchdown eventualities i've got study has a return to Earth craft waiting for the adult males while they get there. The Mars Society is advocating additionally touchdown equipment and equipment to fabricate the methane gas for the return holiday at present from the Martian environment. .

Answer 8

Unfortunately our tech can't break the light speed gap,but good new there maybe a breakthrough in the coming years that will bypass this slight problem so at least we'll be able to move the next mars rover in real time and not having to wait for a response.

Answer 9

The signals to mars are radio signals, which travel at the speed of light. (In fact, it is impossible for any signal of any type to travel faster than that.) This means the signals travel at about 186,000 miles per second.

The distance from earth to Mars varies from about 35 million miles to about 220 million miles (depending on where they are in their orbits).

So, when Mars is at its closest, the time it takes for a signal to get from here to there is:

(35 million miles) / (186000 miles/sec) = 188 sec.

or, about 3 minutes. When Mars is farther away, it takes the signal a correspondingly longer time.

Answer 10

Another way to look at it. Signals have a speed. Sound has a speed. Very similar to lightning and thunder, You see lightning first because in moves at @186,000mph and then depending on distance, sound moves @ 1000mph you hear the thunder although at the lightning bolt they happen at the same time