Rtlt (Noun)
Meaning
The elapsed time it takes for a signal to travel from Earth to a spacecraft (or other body) and back to the starting point.
Classification
Nouns denoting time and temporal relations.
Examples
- As the Mars Curiosity rover is approximately 14 light-minutes away, its rtt makes it challenging to remotely operate in real-time.
- Scientists used a simulation to practice maneuvers on a comet considering its enormous round-trip light travel time, ensuring that crucial operations occurred when conditions allowed.
- Considering an extreme event involving Cassini close to the edge of the rings around Saturn demanded making correct allowance for long, yet brief time transmission called "round trip" even an in orbital passing condition involving communications network engineers tracking possible Cassini speeds vs. major 'late response,' so extreme in space, yet very critical back for possible safety decision.
- A distance comparable to so much time isn't on same chart and NASA had said it is 80 minutes minimum time to control Mars Spirit by considering rtt if needing adjusting.
- Because one radio-signal must make a complete circuit to and back from a spacecraft for acknowledgment to occur for communications each and both "tx" and "rx" has traveled each one distance, spacecraft rtt ultimately makes huge factor of Earth command/spacecraft tx delay.