Question

From your spacecraft at Mars, a basalt lava flow is 315 km below.

a) What is the range delay time of the reflection caused by the ground?

b) After moving along track in your orbit, the lava flow is still 315 km below, but there is now 80 m of ice (ε=3.15) on top of the ground. What is the new range delay time of the lava reflection?

c) Does the returned signal return earlier or later than if there were no ice present? Why?

Answer 1

Answer-

(A) about 70-80 KM pf delay

(B) about 30-40 KM of delay

(C) the signal will return later than if there were no ice present.