1/5/2004: Welcome to Mars

[Kitsune]

Originally posted by blue58

So how long do these signals actually take to get to Earth? Radio signals?

If I remember correctly, and dammit I can't find the source, it takes 3.5 minutes to get a command to Mars via radio and 3.5 minutes to get an acknowledgement back from the rover due to distance. So seven minutes after they've sent "move forward", they actually know that it has.

You may have had fun as a kid trying to keep your R/C car from accidentally finding its way into the storm drain on the street -- imagine doing it with that much of a delay! (It also helps, of course, that the rover is intelligent enough to know not to go off of a cliff, into a rock, etc.)