Throughout a gathering with the Mars Exploration Program Evaluation Group, an inside NASA working crew devoted to supporting missions to Mars included a pitch from Elon Musk’s SpaceX to deploy Starlink satellites across the pink planet to create “Marslink.” Having a thick layer of satellites round Mars would definitely make transmission simpler, as it could make the comms goal bigger than the planet itself and would seemingly pace up intra-Mars comms when that turns into vital. Nevertheless it most likely gained’t demonstrably pace up communication between Earth and Mars, a minimum of to not the extent Elon is pitching, as a result of Mars is actually fucking distant.
The Marslink pitch consists of “a number of SpaceX satellites positioned in Mars orbit to offer full visibility and interoperability for floor and orbital property,” and the power to “exceed” NASA’s requirement for 4 mbps switch. For reference, your common web connection within the U.S. is buzzing round 250 mpbs, and also you want round 100 mbps for dependable video streaming. Final week Elon Musk stated in certainly one of his 100-plus each day tweets that “That is only a very primary first step. Earth and Mars will in the end want higher than petabit/sec connectivity.” Petabit/second speeds are at the moment solely theoretically doable with fiberoptic cables, and we’re positively not linking Earth to Mars with fiber web.
Mars doesn’t transfer in the identical orbit across the solar, or on the identical pace as Earth. At its closest, Mars is a mere 34 million miles away, about half the gap from the Earth to the Solar. When Mars is reverse Earth in its orbit, with the Solar between them, that distance will increase to over 250 million miles. If you happen to may talk on the pace of sunshine, as many laser-based satellite tv for pc transmissions can, the pace at which you’ll load something continues to be depending on the pace of sunshine. That 250 million miles takes 22 minutes and 22 seconds for mild (or data) to traverse. Petabit/second speeds between Mars and Earth are unimaginable till we develop faster-than-light journey, which is, you already know, not doable based mostly on our present understanding of physics.
Elon Musk, once more on Twitter, recommended that Starlink may create a “knowledge bridge” to hop knowledge from one satellite tv for pc to a different alongside a relay system. One follower even recommended a “internet of satellites across the solar” to maintain individuals in area and on different planets linked to the Earth web. “An extended chain of modified future technology Starlink satellites between 1 and 1.5 AU would do it,” claims Musk. If you happen to don’t know, an AU (Astronomical Unit) is 93 million miles, or the typical distance between the Earth and the Solar.
Right here’s the issue. Satellite tv for pc hopping doesn’t scale back the pace at which you’ll talk with a distant planet. Area continues to be area, lightspeed continues to be lightspeed, and the gap doesn’t get shorter since you put a couple of satellites between right here and there. It’s doable that leaping from satellite tv for pc to satellite tv for pc may enhance the dimensions of the information switch, but it surely won’t scale back latency time between Mars and Earth in any approach. Actually, hopping from satellite tv for pc to satellite tv for pc will truly enhance processing time and make the entire thing slower.
Is Elon Musk going to be the one to crack faster-than-light journey and quantum entanglement? I’m going to exit on a limb right here and say I’ve my doubts. SpaceX is scheduled to deploy 5 unmanned rockets to Mars in 2026, and Elon says individuals will probably be going to Mars by 2028. Once more, I’ve my doubts.
