Quote:
Originally posted by Mojo The Monkey
The distance to Mars is variable, so the communication lag is variable, too. I think the longest lag (if Earth is on one side of the sun, and Mars is on the other) would be something like 44 minutes.
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One reason why this mission has a 'window' is that Mars is currently so close to earth. At its closest, Mars would be 35 million miles or 6.25 minutes full duplex communication. Current distance last reported was 103 million miles. Max distance (when sun did not obstruct communication) would take something like 44 minutes full duplex.