Would a hanheld GPS work on the Moon?

Question

Would a hanheld GPS work on the Moon?

Answer 1

Well,

1) they wont work

2) wat exactly r u looking for on the moon - i doubt there are any secret yougurt shops that you're gonna need special directions too - but hey im glad ur thinkin and now u get a gold star - keep it up

Answer 2

No, they won't work.  But I'd like to elaborate why and also clarify some things that were previously stated.

First, the clarification.  GPS satellites are not in LEO (low earth orbit).  They are 22,000 km high which puts them in MEO (medium).

Now think about what makes GPS work.  On earth, you are [literally] surrounded by satellites.  Imagine you have a very tight rope between you and each satellite.  For this illustration, imagine you had 4 satellites spread out around you.  This would mean you had 4 ropes.  For argument sake, let's say you have 1 rope in each of the 4 compass directions.  This satellite geometry allows the GPS receiver to know its position quite well (of course, I'm omitting much of the details).

Now you can't receive GPS signals on the moon (because the satellites are pointed towards earth and the moon is too far away that the signal would be too weak) but imagine you could.  The moon is about 380,000km from the earth.  Again for this arugument imagine a tight rope to the same 4 satellites.  Because the distance is so far, the 4 ropes would be so close together that it would essentially be one rope.  This satellite geometry would be insufficient to determine a position.

Anyway, that is the geek answer.

Answer 3

No.

The GPS satellites are in low-earth orbits that focus all of thier broadcast energy toward the earth. The handheld GPS unit would not be able to recieve the signals from the satellites. Even if it could, the data it recieves is only useful for navigation on earth; the moon would require is own system.