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

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

00:03It buffers and it takes forever.

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

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

00:12ALUMA-T,

00:13will use laser communications

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

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

00:21at a rate that would allow you to download a movie

00:23in under a minute.

00:26The process of sending and receiving spacecraft data

00:29is known as space communications.

00:31NASA is enhancing space communications capabilities

00:35through the power of lasers.

00:37Laser communications use higher data rates

00:40to send an increased amount of science and exploration data

00:43to Earth in a single transmission.

00:46Historically, we've relied on radio frequency communications

00:49to send and receive data from space.

00:52With laser communications,

00:54we are supplementing that method.

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

00:59send more information and data

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

01:04the solar system, and beyond.

01:07To prove these groundbreaking capabilities,

01:10NASA is infusing laser communications

01:12into multiple missions.

01:16One of these missions is a relay satellite known as LCRD.

01:21LCRD launched in 2021

01:23and is NASA's first-ever laser relay,

01:25which will receive data from ALUMA-T on the space station.

01:30Together, LCRD and ALUMA-T

01:32are NASA's first-ever end-to-end laser relay system,

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

01:40Laser terminals are ideal for missions like the space station

01:43because they are typically smaller, lighter,

01:46and more efficient than comparable radio systems.

01:50In 2022, NASA launched another laser communications mission

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

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

02:01T-BIRD is a small satellite.

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

02:05And soon, NASA will launch a laser terminal on Artemis II,

02:08a crewed mission to the moon.

02:11On board the Orion crew capsule,

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

02:16and video from the lunar region.

02:19ALUMA-T, LCRD, T-BIRD, and O2O

02:22are only the start of how laser communications

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

02:30NASA is infusing lasers to further advance

02:32our communications capabilities

02:34from the International Space Station today

02:36and to deep space in the future.

02:48NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

02:50California Institute of Technology

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