This is actually an interesting news item. Right now I'm reading a book about how Marconi conceived of, and then built, a means to broadcast a signal without the use of wires or cables.... called, of course, the wireless communications technology.
At first he started off with small bench scale tests, across a room, then graduating to ever larger distances... a mile... 30 miles across the English Channel, and his final grand experiment, across the Atlantic Ocean.
Perhaps they have tried bouncing signals here on Earth first, then satellites, and now are going to shoot for the moon, and even Jupiter. A curious thing, though, angle of incidence = angle of reflection, and with the moon and Jupiter being curved surfaces (not to mention Jupiter being a gas giant), the signal would have to be exceedingly accurate to hit dead center if they expect to get a return signal.
Or maybe the signal is nothing like what we know and does not behave like radio signals at all? Just thinking about bouncing a signal of some sort off of a gaseous giant like Jupiter (where presumably a radio signal could just be absorbed by the gases and not returned) suggests that maybe something new in physics is going on.
Are we seeing the beginnings of a new form of space communication that will be used for future space travel?
This is actually an interesting news item. Right now I'm reading a book about how Marconi conceived of, and then built, a means to broadcast a signal without the use of wires or cables.... called, of course, the wireless communications technology.
At first he started off with small bench scale tests, across a room, then graduating to ever larger distances... a mile... 30 miles across the English Channel, and his final grand experiment, across the Atlantic Ocean.
Perhaps they have tried bouncing signals here on Earth first, then satellites, and now are going to shoot for the moon, and even Jupiter. A curious thing, though, angle of incidence = angle of reflection, and with the moon and Jupiter being curved surfaces (not to mention Jupiter being a gas giant), the signal would have to be exceedingly accurate to hit dead center if they expect to get a return signal.
Or maybe the signal is nothing like what we know and does not behave like radio signals at all? Just thinking about bouncing a signal of some sort off of a gaseous giant like Jupiter (where presumably a radio signal could just be absorbed by the gases and not returned) suggests that maybe something new in physics is going on.
Are we seeing the beginnings of a new form of space communication that will be used for future space travel?
Not really a problem because the surfaces will not be smooth like a mirror. They will be rough and so will reflect in all directions.
Think of shining a torch against a wall at an angle of 45°. Can you see the light on the wall or is it all reflected away?
Good point.