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Not only can it be done, it has been done. But how, might you ask. Well, it hasn't been done using a rope, but it has been done using gravity, and it's done all the time. That's the basic premise of a …

GPS receives use the distance between the user and the satellite, not the distance between satellites. In fact, the name for this is trilateration. If time isn't well known, then one can use an addi …

The common reference in the Solar System isn't the sun's rotation, but the ecliptic plane, or the invariant plane. The ecliptic plane is nearly constant, on the order of thousands of years, and is the …

I suspect that navigating to a galaxy would be done by knowing the characteristics of the galaxy. There are a few ways to do so, but depending on the orbital resolution, the shape, pulsar characterist …

Some sort of a inertial navigation system could be used, as Hobbes mentioned. Use the North Star, or best equivalent. …

The location of the North Pole is 21.18 RA, 52.89 North. There is no "North Star" located there, although it is about half-way between Deneb and Alderamin. (Source). In the sourthern sky, Kappa Veloru …

I'm confident that if New Horizon's can reach another target, they will attempt to visit it. One of the reasons PT1 was selected as the target is that it was the closest object they could reach, leavi …

So far as I can tell, it is the first time it has actually been demonstrated on orbit. There are a number of other ways that have been done in at least a simulation or on paper. These include: Using …

There is really only one method to obtain the location of the spacecraft, and this is via carefully tracking the spacecraft from the ground. Usually they determine the range by a process called, well, …

The GPS constellation wanted to be high enough where many of them could be seen, but not in Geostationary orbit, because it wasn't needed. Somewhat arbitrarily it was decided to set them up such that …

The paper states that it was able to achieve a navigation solution at 60,000 km, which is about 1/6th of the way to the moon, and well beyond the belt of Geosynchronous satellites. …

The major improvements in ADCS are caused when there are failed components, and one has to work around these limitations. For instance, Kepler has only 2 functioning reaction wheels, when it originall …

The distance is quite easy for something so far out there. You send a command to the satellite, and see how long it takes to respond. The time it takes to respond times the speed of light is the dista …

Not only does it use Einstein's Theory of Relativity, it's actually going to use Jupiter's huge mass to do a test that hasn't been done yet, on how it affects rotating objects. As it's expected to aff …

A few things to consider: Refraction- The atmosphere will bend the light somewhat, which might cause it to take longer. Speed of light changes- Light moves a bit slower when going through more of th …