since the GPS satellites all operate out there around a geosyncronous orbit around the earth and control our gear....\nif you were out there, say past the low earth orbit of the shuttle, would the devices still function?\nor what would they point at?  I guess they might triangulate further out into space, if so ,.. what would be the outer distance of operation?
210859
My guess is that they would still work-you would not get an accurate reading of your position though-what coordinate system or projection is space in? and the reading would have to bounce back into earth from a reading station and then back to the GPS units-\nWhich brings up another question? Would signals be lost in translation?\nI really don't know\nBut its gonna bother me.
139781
Satellites are always in danger of dust and micrometeorites. Since they are above much of the atmosphere, they are not shielded. Cosmic radiation also degrades the circuitry and even the collectors.  As far as insurance, my guess (and it is only one) is that someone is willing to bet on that. Insurance, after all, is betting that something will or will not happen.
593651
Another string theory, \nG – hmm, \nwhy not then a G-string theory?\n\n\nCurios question it is. Let us as assume that you will put a geosynchronous satellite at about 300km from the center of the Earth. Since it is a geosynchronous satellite it will stay with the same point on the Earth say over your house.  The air resistance will be minimum as I‘ll assume that the planets atmosphere stays with the planet. Here are some numbers:\n\nEarth rotates at Ve= 1,700 km/hour (diameter ~13,000 km)\nOur geosynchronous satellite Vs= ~40,000 km/hour (at 300,000 km above center of the Earth)\nThis was just to show off, now let us do some serous computation.\n\nAnd the weight of the string say at 1gm/meter will weigh …. will weigh about 126.87 kg by employing the inverse square law of gravity.  (These were very tough computations).\nThat will apply a force of about 1,300 N on that satellite.  Why apply a steady pull? The weight of the string will bring the satellite down.\n\nThe daunting question is how are we are going to attach one end of that string to the satellite in the first place and then getting the other end to your house ;)? Or perhaps…\n\nThanks for all the fish
636376
3-\nGOES-10 (West) and GOES-12 (East).  Goes-11 is in orbit but is not in operation; it is in case GOES-10 or GOES-12 has a problem it can take over while they are being repaired.\n\n**These are meteorological satellites.  As far as total geosynchronous satellites, there are approx. 300
146646
Well the nearest star system is light years away. So if they send one, we won't find out the findings. Besides, how would we send commands and receive them, they would have to travel light years of distance. So I would say no.
607248
Actually we have sent one probe "Down" as it were.  Voyager 2, on it's last slingshot headed "Down" below the ecliptic.  Which is why only Canberra can track it and not Goldstone or Madrid.  (I work at Goldstone that's the only reason I know this.)  \n\nYes, we're still talking to it.  Also Ulysses is in a solar polar orbit taking it out of the ecliptic as well.  So we DO go "up and down" when we want to.
665367
It is a good idea, though the GPS should be really inconspicuous. It was used by my team in a war game played in India (Asia). Hope u know where it is!!\nWe won the game so easily, but in real life the PoW are stripped and searched, so using it in military is out of qustion. Only a crazy general would allow it, but I liked your idea.\nGood to have such bright, intelligent questions asked.
568869
Google earth works really well...just have to download it....but it wont be in real time everytime you use it..it sounds like you want it for security purposes...that I guess you would need a keyhole satellite for!!!
149581
The astronauts would be in zero-G for almost the entire trip causing the negative effects of weighlessness on their bodies.\n\nThe accereration of the spacecraft would indeed negate the problems with Zero-G by temporarily creating artifical gravity.  The problem lies in the fact that with the limited amount of fuel on the spacecraft, acceleration would only occur while the the engine was on. (a very short time with a chemical rocket)   \n\nOne solution would be to use a a drive that will burn during the entire trip.  One such drive is an ion drive (used on the recent Deep-Space One spacecraft to visit a local asteriod).  This drive would acclerate for most of the trip there creating a small amount of artifical gravity.
311184
Microsoft Streets and Trips offers a version with a small sized GPS that can be used as a GPS system on a notebook.  There are other portable GPSes that can also be used in conjunction with Streets and Trips (or other mapping softwares) to give full GPS capabilities on the notebook.\n\nNote: GPS receivers need line of site to the satellites.  So, you will need to be near a large window or, better, outside for the GPS to work effectively.
584212
I read the site someone had posted.  It seems even the highest levels on all 3 scales will only harm persons in high altitude flight and spacecraft in orbit.  Sattelites could become useless in some cases as well.
658999
The reason nothing is sent out from earth up or down is rather simple, Nothing is within reach in those directions. For the most part the planetary system; the only thing we are able to explore at current technology level, is on a flat planer system due to the suns gravity force. Certainly the universe is tri-dimensional but it is A: very hard to depict in that way. and B: Impossible for us to study in terms of anything besides telescope observation.
261536
It depends on which satellite. TV satellites are in a geo-synchronous orbit, they remain over the same location all of the time.\n\nMost artificial satellites are placed in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), where they travel at about 27,400 km/h (8 km/s), making one revolution in about 90 minutes. The primary exception are communication satellites that require geostationary orbit. However, it requires less energy to place a satellite into a LEO and the satellite needs less powerful transmitters for data transfer, so LEO is still used for many communication applications. Because these orbits are not geostationary, a network of satellites is required to provide continuous coverage. Lower orbits also aid remote sensing satellites because of the added detail that can be gained. Remote sensing satellites can also take advantage of sun synchronous LEO orbits at an altitude of about 800km and near polar inclination. ENVISAT is one example of an earth observation satellite that makes use of this special type of LEO.
28760
One lunar distance is still a reasonable safe distance.  There have been some that have been a lot closer, within geostationary range (approx. 22,800 miles). Yes, any chunk of space rock will be preturb as it is more influenced by another gravitational mass (Earth, Moon, even the Sun and Jupiter), but by the orbital data on this particular rock and the angle it is coming in on, I doubt the influence would be remotely enough to put it on collision course with Earth for any time soon.
28325
They already do. Do you mean, inter-planetary flights? And if so, how far away? Pluto? Nuh-uh. Mars? Not necessarily a bad idea. It all depends on how far away the mission crew is to be sent, and how long the duration of the journey is to be. If the crew were to find themselves in an emergency, they would of course have to be more resilient and capable of quick thinking because Houston would not be of any help to them.
179727
Ask around if any of your friends have a GPS system.  There is your example of a daily-life example of the theory of relativity.  The Global Positioning System would not be able to give you very accurate locations if it did not take the corrections to time and distance from both special, and general reletivity into account.  I am pretty sure that it is the first piece of public consumer-grade equiptment that relies on our understanding of General Relativity.
520344
There is possibly something wrong with your GPS data.  The interpretation of the points may be your error source as it is hard to locate certain items with Google Earth.\nI first ran the Longitude points with a Geodetic Program that can run the Inverse of two geodetic points on an ellipsoid.  I used the WGS84 datum. I noticed that you did not include the latitude and the elevation of the point pair in question.  That is ok.  The program kicked back an Ellipsoidal distance of 1, 040.528 meters and a Mark-to-Mark distance of the same value, 1,040.528 meters.\nI then did a check on this value by using the Mean Radius of the Earth and converting the difference in the Longitude values to radians and ran it through my Geodesy equation and came up with a value of 1039.36 meters.  Pretty close to my program's value.\nYou can always do a check by pacing, pulling a tape, or using some survey techniques to get a fix on the distance.\nRemember, that GPS is referenced to a mathematical Ellipsoid and there are complex equations that determine fixed locations on Earth and the precision and accuracy of the points defined.\nGood night and good luck.