NASA’s Optical Comms Demo Transmits Data Over 140 Million Miles
NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications experiment also interfaced with the Psyche spacecraft’s communication system for the first time, transmitting engineering data to Earth.
Riding aboard NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, the agency’s Deep Space Optical Communications technology demonstration continues to break records
While the asteroid-bound spacecraft doesn’t rely on optical communications to send data
the new technology has proven that it’s up to the task. After interfacing with the Psyche’s radio frequency transmitter
the laser communications demo sent a copy of engineering data from over 140 million miles (226 million kilometers) away, 1½ times the distance between Earth and the Sun.
This achievement provides a glimpse into how spacecraft could use optical communications in the future
We downlinked about 10 minutes of duplicated spacecraft data during a pass on April 8,” said Meera Srinivasan
the project’s operations lead at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “Until then, we’d been sending test and diagnostic data in our downlinks from Psyche.
This represents a significant milestone for the project by showing how optical communications can interface with a spacecraft’s radio frequency comms system.”