Once a rocket or is in space (e.g. on its way to mars), how does it know where it is in relation to its pre-programmed route? There is no GPS in space.
"james" <nos...@nospam.com> wrote: >Once a rocket or is in space (e.g. on its way to mars), how does it know >where it is in relation to its pre-programmed route? There is no GPS in >space.
A wide variety of ways. It can use an onboard inertial guidance system, it can use a sun-and-star tracker, it can be tracked from Earth...
>>Once a rocket or is in space (e.g. on its way to mars), how does it know >>where it is in relation to its pre-programmed route? There is no GPS in >>space.
> A wide variety of ways. It can use an onboard inertial guidance > system, it can use a sun-and-star tracker, it can be tracked from > Earth...
And for many spacecraft the answer is a combination of methods. Relying on one method is often subject to errors peculiar to the method.
Jeff -- "Take heart amid the deepening gloom that your dog is finally getting enough cheese" - Deteriorata - National Lampoon
>>Once a rocket or is in space (e.g. on its way to mars), how does it know >>where it is in relation to its pre-programmed route? There is no GPS in >>space.
> A wide variety of ways. It can use an onboard inertial guidance > system, it can use a sun-and-star tracker, it can be tracked from > Earth...
Basically everything navigation on earth used prior to GPS coming on line. Well, except a magnetic compass maybe.
Jochem
-- "A designer knows he has arrived at perfection not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery
james wrote: > Once a rocket or is in space (e.g. on its way to mars), how does it know > where it is in relation to its pre-programmed route? There is no GPS in > space.
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