Indeed, though it would take some coordination to actually narrow it down precisely. You'd need a few different planes/satellites to detect the signal and share their reading to allow triangulation. With only a single plane or a single satellite that is not in geosynchronous orbit, you could take multiple readings and get a rough idea of location, but the inability to turn from a straight line (not impossible for a plane of course, but it would require intentionality and willingness for the crew/commanders and typically not cheap as it disrupts whatever flight plan they previously had) would be a hindrance. That said, with how many satellites are up there I doubt it would take much extra effort to do that coordination if the satellite operators have motivation to do so.
The moon is visible to ?half? the earth at a time? That’s a huge search area. Certainly the antennas broadcasting to the moon are quite directional, and outside the main beam, would be hard to detect?
I don’t understand how? Wouldn’t the signal be highly directional? Surely it wouldn’t be easily detectable unless the viewer’s POV intersects the path of the beam?
