NASA Tests Laser Communications Across 10 Million Miles in Space

NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) unit on the Psyche spacecraft has activated, creating a high-speed laser data link at a distance of 10 million miles (16 million km), equivalent to 40 times the distance from Earth to the Moon.

NASA has expressed a strong interest in developing a functional laser communication system for deep space missions and has consequently undertaken progressively more ambitious tests of the technology. This initiative stems from the limitation posed by the 1960s-era radio systems currently employed for mission communications. While these systems function, the data speeds are remarkably sluggish, reaching only about 10 Mbit/s on a favorable day.

DSOC Test

However, in the test, the DSOC directed its laser toward the Hale Telescope at Caltech’s Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California, on November 14, 2023. In fact, this was achieved by locking onto a laser beacon transmitted from the Optical Communications Telescope Laboratory at JPL’s Table Mountain Facility near Wrightwood, California. Automated systems facilitated the transceiver in locking onto Palomar, while the beacon served as an uplink to send signals to Psyche.

NASA clarified that no actual data transmission occurred during the test, which aimed to assess the proper functioning of the device without interfering with the Psyche spacecraft. As Psyche continues its journey farther from Earth, more ambitious tests are planned, including a data relay from NASA spacecraft on Mars.

Achieving ‘First Light’ and Exchanging Light Data in Deep Space

Abi Biswas, project technologist for DSOC at JPL, expressed, “Achieving first light is a tremendous achievement. The ground systems successfully detected the deep space laser photons from DSOC’s flight transceiver aboard Psyche. And we were also able to send some data, meaning we were able to exchange ‘bits of light’ from and to deep space.”

The video below provides information about DSOC.

Read the original article on: New Atlas

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