How do astronauts communicate with each other and mission control?

Question

a). If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, is there sound?

b). If an astronaut on the moon dropped a hammer, would there be sound? Explain.

c). How do astronauts communicate with each other and mission control?

Answer 1

yes, no, radios. if a man speaks in the woods with no woman around, is he still wrong?

Answer 2

Sound cannot happen without a carrier such as air. In a vacuum their is no sound at all. Another carrier apart from Air is Water. An astronaut on the moon is in a vacuum so there would be no sound but if there was an explosion of some kind close by the astronaut would feel the vibrations.

Answer 3

a) Yes. Sound waves are produced by the falling tree, since there is a medium (air) for the gravitational kinetic energy of the falling tree to be converted into sound kinetic energy. That no one is there to here it is immaterial. We can't see X-rays, but we know they are there. What the question is really asking is: "if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does anybody here it?" No, of course.

b) Sound is a wave of molecular compression and rarefaction that must be propagated through a medium, solid, liquid, gas or plasma. The hammer being dropped would not be heard by an astronaut, because there is no air. Sound waves would be propagated through the rock of the moon itself, but since such waves must pass into air for our ears to here it, there would be no sound heard. The waves would pass through the space suit's feet and into the air of the helmet that way, but would be so weak that nothing would be heard.

c) Radio. Specific frequencies of long wavelength electromagnetic radiation.

Answer 4

Better answer for c):
There are special communications satellites in geostationary orbit called TDRSS (Telemetry Data Relay Satellite System) pronounced Tee-driss. There are 3 of them placed on orbit over the equator roughly 120 degrees of longitude apart from each other. No matter where the ISS or the shuttle is located, there is always at least 1 TDRSS satellite in 'view' of their radio antennas.

When the ISS or shuttle is orbiting over a particluar ground station for transmitting and receiving, they can communicate via radio directly to the ground. This doesn't happen too often, as the earth is mostly ocean, and there aren't too many ground stations in the oceans (only a few islands have them).

.

Answer 5

a) Yes, sound is mechanical energy that propagates through matter in waves. It has nothing to do with anybody being present.

b) Yes, space is not a prefect vacuum, but rather a high quality vacuum. Which means that matter is present and that sound waves can and will propagate. However this lack of matter will result in the loss of wave integrity almost immediately therefore nobody will hear it.

c) Radios, they transmit the sound as a electromagnetic wave rather than a mechanical wave and are less effected by the vacuum of space.

Answer 6

Physics says in any different case. velocity of sunshine is 3.00x10^8 m/s. Earth-moon distance is 3.84x10^8 m. the finished gentle lag (there and back) could have been below 3 seconds. Your 0.5-2d delay to call Europe isn't using gentle lag; this is because of the complicated gadget of switches and relays which routed your call via a large community. Apollo communications have been component to point.

Answer 7

a) If sound is defined as a compression wave in the surrounding air, yes.

b) No, because there is no air on the Moon.

c) Radio.

Answer 8

a) Yes

b) No

c) Radio