Nasa is pushing the boundaries of space communication by testing laser technology that could enable live broadcasts from the moon during future Artemis missions. Instead of relying on traditional radio waves, this new method uses laser beams to transmit data and video between Earth and astronauts on the moon.
Nasa is working on a new way to communicate between Earth and astronauts on the moon by using laser beams.This laser communication technology has been in development for several years. In a 2023 experiment, a video of a cat named Taters was successfully sent through a laser communication system from 19 million miles away to Earth.
The latest tests started in June, when Nasa connected a Pilatus PC-12 plane to instruments at Nasa Glenn using a laser link. In July, the team hit a major milestone by sending a 4K video on a round trip from the plane to the International Space Station (ISS). On July 30, Space.com saw another successful test where the plane tried out the High-Rate Delay Tolerant Networking System (HDTN).
“HDTN has broken several world records and achieved some firsts in space and for the United States,” said Rachel Dudukovich, the lead engineer for HDTN at Nasa Glenn. “We’ve securely transferred a file from the ISS for the first time ever and achieved over 900 megabits per second using the laser communication link from the ISS, which is also a first in space.”
This technology could create a reliable and secure internet system throughout the solar system that can send data at high speeds.
“We deal with challenges like long delays and disruptions caused by weather. Our system is designed to store data when the connection is interrupted and send it once the link is restored,” Dudukovich explained.
Nasa is working on a new way to communicate between Earth and astronauts on the moon by using laser beams.This laser communication technology has been in development for several years. In a 2023 experiment, a video of a cat named Taters was successfully sent through a laser communication system from 19 million miles away to Earth.
The latest tests started in June, when Nasa connected a Pilatus PC-12 plane to instruments at Nasa Glenn using a laser link. In July, the team hit a major milestone by sending a 4K video on a round trip from the plane to the International Space Station (ISS). On July 30, Space.com saw another successful test where the plane tried out the High-Rate Delay Tolerant Networking System (HDTN).
“HDTN has broken several world records and achieved some firsts in space and for the United States,” said Rachel Dudukovich, the lead engineer for HDTN at Nasa Glenn. “We’ve securely transferred a file from the ISS for the first time ever and achieved over 900 megabits per second using the laser communication link from the ISS, which is also a first in space.”
This technology could create a reliable and secure internet system throughout the solar system that can send data at high speeds.
“We deal with challenges like long delays and disruptions caused by weather. Our system is designed to store data when the connection is interrupted and send it once the link is restored,” Dudukovich explained.
