NASA Infusing Fast Laser Communications On Space Missions

Space.com

NASA is speeding up communications in space with experiments aboard the International Space Station, Orion spacecraft and more.  Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Transcript

00:00 Have you ever tried to download a movie with slow internet?

00:03 It buffers and it takes forever.

00:05 Now imagine trying to download movies all the way from space.

00:09 The International Space Station's new terminal,

00:12 Illuma-T, will use laser communications

00:15 to demonstrate an enhanced way to transmit data.

00:18 In fact, Illuma-T can transmit data

00:21 at a rate that would allow you to download a movie in under a minute.

00:25 The process of sending and receiving spacecraft data

00:29 is known as space communications.

00:31 NASA is enhancing space communications capabilities

00:35 through the power of lasers.

00:36 Laser communications use higher data rates

00:39 to send an increased amount of science and exploration data

00:43 to Earth in a single transmission.

00:45 Historically, we've relied on radio frequency communications

00:49 to send and receive data from space.

00:52 With laser communications, we are supplementing that method.

00:56 Laser communications can help NASA's science missions

00:59 send more information and data

01:01 that is vital to our understanding of our planet,

01:04 the solar system, and beyond.

01:06 To prove these groundbreaking capabilities,

01:10 NASA is infusing laser communications into multiple missions.

01:14 One of these missions is a relay satellite known as LCRD.

01:20 LCRD launched in 2021 and is NASA's first-ever laser relay,

01:26 which will receive data from Illuma-T on the space station.

01:29 Together, LCRD and Illuma-T are NASA's first-ever end-to-end laser relay system,

01:36 demonstrating the benefits of a laser communications system.

01:39 Laser terminals are ideal for missions like the space station

01:44 because they are typically smaller, lighter,

01:46 and more efficient than comparable radio systems.

01:49 In 2022, NASA launched another laser communications mission

01:54 called T-Bird to demonstrate 200 gigabit per second data rates,

01:58 a record-setting rate for the agency.

02:00 T-Bird is a small satellite.

02:02 It's only the size of a tissue box.

02:04 And soon, NASA will launch a laser terminal on Artemis II,

02:08 a crewed mission to the moon.

02:10 On board the Orion crew capsule,

02:13 the O2O system will send back high-resolution images

02:16 and video from the lunar region.

02:18 Illuma-T, LCRD, T-Bird, and O2O

02:22 are only the start of how laser communications

02:25 are paving the way for advancing our scientific discoveries.

02:29 NASA is infusing lasers to further advance our communications capabilities

02:34 from the International Space Station today

02:36 and to deep space in the future.

02:38 [music]

02:47 you

02:49 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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