When the Voyager I and Voyager II spacecraft were exploring the outer planets, NASA flight controllers had to plan the crafts' moves well in advance. How many seconds elapse between the time a command is sent from Earth and the time the command is received by Voyager at Neptune?

Question

Emanuel Pitts

Geography

12 August, 09:47

When the Voyager I and Voyager II spacecraft were exploring the outer planets, NASA flight controllers had to plan the crafts' moves well in advance. How many seconds elapse between the time a command is sent from Earth and the time the command is received by Voyager at Neptune?

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Answers (1)

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Big Bird · Answer 1

14,676 seconds.

Explanation:

The signal travels as a radio wave which moves at the speed of light, c, which is 299,792 Km/s

The distance between Earth and Neptune is roughly 4.4x 10^9 Km.

The time it would take for the signal to reach Voyager at Neptune from the Earth would be:

(4.4x 10^9 Km) / (299,792 Km/s)

=14,676 seconds

=Approximately 4 hours.

So scientists would have to take this lapse into account.