[Teever]

What if the chipsat sends the signal to the chipsat behind it which sends the signal to the chipsat behind it which....

So that the signal can be relayed by a bunch of short range transmitters all the way back to earth

[aaronax]

Probably requires a surprising amount of short range transmitters to be launched then. I wonder if a formula could be developed that relates the energy needed to place one large transceiver at a given distance versus the energy needed to place small transceivers all along that given distance.