Tony Duell wrote:
>
> > How about we start sending all our precious data into space via radio
> > waves towards some big celestial body (like one of Jupiter's moons) so
> > that in X years it will bounce back and we can then retrieve it
>
> Jupiter's moons are nowhere near far enough away for this. Radio waves
> travel at the speed of light. I'm not sure how far away jupiter is, but
> it's a lot less than 1 light year.
Depending on relative positions in orbit, round-trip time never gets
to be more than about 45 minutes. And there would have to be some
equipment running to receive and retransmit, signal loss after
bouncing is severe, even if lasers were used, let alone long waves
like radio.
--
Ward Griffiths <mailto:gram_at_cnct.com> <http://www.cnct.com/home/gram/>
WARNING: The Attorney General has determined that Alcohol, Tobacco,
and Firearms can be hazardous to your health -- and get away with it.
Received on Mon Jan 18 1999 - 15:19:17 GMT