NASA just combines all the things I love: space, lasers, and cats. In the first demonstration of deep space optical communications, the space agency streamed high-definition video from 19 million miles away from Earth. And as it turns out, NASA is just as passionate about sharing cat videos as we are.
On Dec. 11, a gold-capped laser transceiver aboard NASA’s Psyche asteroid probe transmitted a 15-second video of an orange tabby cat named Taters chasing a laser pointer up and down a couch. . revealed this week. The feline’s live stream marks the longest distance covered by a data-encoded laser beam — 80 times the distance between Earth and the Moon — as NASA prepares to improve communications skills for deep space missions. ) was broken.
The star of this video is actually a NASA employee’s pet. Taters’ footage is overlaid with graphics showing several features of the technology demonstration, including Psyche’s orbital path and technical information about the laser and its data rate. It also displays detailed information about the tater, including heart rate, color, and breed.
Not only was this video to die for, it also demonstrated NASA’s ability to transmit laser-encoded data from greater distances in deep space. We couldn’t think of a better example of a video serving as the first high-definition stream transmitted via laser from deep space.
NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) experiment begins on spacecraft Psyche spacecraft on October 13th This is the first demonstration of laser or optical communications from a location as far away as Mars. In November, the instrument saw its first light It then transmitted a beam of data encoded in a near-infrared laser from about 10 million miles from Earth.
In the latest demonstration, the laser transceiver transmitted an encoded near-infrared laser to the Hale Telescope in San Diego County, California, at a bit rate of up to 267 megabits per second. The video took him 101 seconds to reach Earth, and each frame of the looping video was live-streamed to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, where footage of Taters’ laser-tracking adventure was recorded in real time. Played.
“We were able to transmit video faster than most broadband Internet connections, even though we were transmitting from millions of miles away,” said JPL, director of receiver electronics for the project. Ryan Rogalin said in a statement. “In fact, after receiving the video at Palomar, he was sent to JPL via the Internet, but that connection was slower than the signal coming from deep space.”
Optical communication systems pack data into the vibrations of a laser’s light waves, encoding the message into an optical signal that is transmitted to a receiver through an infrared beam invisible to the human eye. Although lasers have been used for a long time, Send data from Earth orbit In a recent test, the farthest distance covered by a laser beam was recorded on the moon. “JPL’s DesignLab has done a great job introducing this technology. Everyone loves Taters,” Rogalin added.
NASA typically uses radio waves to communicate with missions on the far side of the moon, but near-infrared light packs data into very dense radio waves, allowing it to send and receive more data. According to NASA, the DSOC experiment aims to demonstrate data transmission rates 10 to 100 times higher than radio frequency systems currently used on spacecraft. Optical communication becomes even more difficult over long distances, as laser beams require great precision to direct.
“When we reached first light, we were excited, but also cautious. This is new technology and we are experimenting with how it works,” said JPL’s Project Flight Operations Director Ken Andrews said in a statement. “But now, with the help of our colleagues at Psyche, we have become accustomed to operating the system and are able to lock onto spacecraft and ground terminals for longer periods than before. I am learning something new.”
Related article: What you need to know about NASA’s unprecedented spirit mission to a metal asteroid
The primary purpose of the Psyche spacecraft is to explore and study the unique metallic asteroid Psyche, providing insight into the history of planet formation and nuclear dynamics. The further away Psyche travels on its way to its asteroid target, the weaker the laser photon signal becomes. Although the task is going to be more difficult, the team behind the experiment still wants to have fun with it.
“One of our goals is to demonstrate the ability to transmit broadband video over millions of miles. Nothing in Psyche generates video data, so we typically use randomly generated test data. packets,” Bill Klipstein, JPL’s technology demo project manager, said in a statement. “But to make this important event even more memorable, we decided to work with JPL’s designers to create a fun video that captures the essence of the demo as part of the Psyche mission. .”
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