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For a GNSS-type system to work, you need four transmitters in sight. This would imply a moderately dense ground network on the moon for a receiver at orbital height -- and as this article points out, we're not doing great at building even a spare ground network of right-side-up transmitters right now -- but would need increasing density for a descending receiver. We don't really have challenges right now with accurately determining orbital parameters of probes above the moon, it's the final few miles where GNSS-level accuracy would be tempting; but that's also the domain where seeing four ground-based transmitters is basically impossible.


If you were trying to land on a specific site though, couldn't you drop down a dozen or so transmitters at the potential landing site? The assign them a location, and have them transmit the relative location to anything landing near them?


How would you drop them? Don't think a radio transmitter would survive a hard landing, so you will need a proper lander (with altimeter) for each transmitter. And at that point you can just strap your actual payload instead of the transmitter.


The point would be you could drop them a bit randomly, once they land, find out where they are, and tell them where they are, to then talk back to the payload as it's landing.

It's the moon, even a hard landing isn't that hard.




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