GPS on Mars?

Roland Piquepaille writes "SPACE.com published two days ago an article named "Red Planet Wayfinder: A GPS System for Mars." You'll read that NASA researchers are studying a 'global positioning satellite (GPS) system around Mars that could also function as a communications network.' This would imply 'a constellation of microsatellites, or Microsats, and one or more relatively large Mars Aerostationary Relay Satellites, or MARSats,' according to the Mars Network website at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). This sounds like a neat idea, but there are several issues here. First, the JPL site mentioned above has not been updated since 1999. Then, there is no mention of such a mission at NASA's Mars exploration program website. So, here is my question: is this a recycled 4-year old article? In this overview, you'll find some spectacular images and more indications leading to think that the article was written in 2000. And please note that a Slashdot reader asked last December 'Whatever Happened To The Mars Network?' without receiving an adequate answer."

Comments

Re:Waste - NOT!

[Rob Carr]

Sounds like a waste to me. I mean, are we really going to be sending that many more rovers before we start considering sending a human exploration team?

First, such a system would be helpful to a human exploration team. Second, most human mission proposals include sending supplies (or machines to manufacture those supplies) on ahead. Getting, those machines together and getting the humans to them would be helpful. Third, there's a lot of science that can be done by carefully mapping the orbits of the Mars Positioning System - it's a great way to find mascons and the like. Fourth, yeah, they probably will be sending a lot more rovers, including aerial drones that would really benefit from a GPS-like system.