NASA is speeding up communications in space with experiments aboard the International Space Station, Orion spacecraft and more.
Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
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TechTranscript
00:00 Have you ever tried to download a movie with slow internet?
00:03 It buffers and it takes forever.
00:05 Now imagine trying to download movies
00:07 all the way from space.
00:09 The International Space Station's new terminal,
00:11 Illuma-T, will use laser communications
00:14 to demonstrate an enhanced way to transmit data.
00:18 In fact, Illuma-T can transmit data
00:21 at a rate that would allow you to download a movie
00:23 in under a minute.
00:24 The process of sending and receiving spacecraft data
00:29 is known as space communications.
00:31 NASA is enhancing space communications capabilities
00:34 through the power of lasers.
00:36 Laser communications use higher data rates
00:39 to send an increased amount of science and exploration data
00:42 to Earth in a single transmission.
00:44 Historically, we've relied on radio frequency communications
00:49 to send and receive data from space.
00:52 With laser communications, we are supplementing that method.
00:56 Laser communications can help NASA's science missions
00:59 send more information and data
01:01 that is vital to our understanding of our planet,
01:04 the solar system, and beyond.
01:06 To prove these groundbreaking capabilities,
01:09 NASA is infusing laser communications
01:12 into multiple missions.
01:14 One of these missions is a relay satellite known as LCRD.
01:19 LCRD launched in 2021
01:23 and is NASA's first ever laser relay,
01:25 which will receive data from Illuma-T on the space station.
01:29 Together, LCRD and Illuma-T
01:32 are NASA's first ever end-to-end laser relay system,
01:36 demonstrating the benefits of a laser communications system.
01:39 Laser terminals are ideal for missions like the space station
01:43 because they are typically smaller, lighter,
01:46 and more efficient than comparable radio systems.
01:50 In 2022, NASA launched another laser communications mission
01:54 called T-Bird to demonstrate 200 gigabit per second data rates,
01:58 a record-setting rate for the agency.
02:00 T-Bird is a small satellite.
02:02 It's only the size of a tissue box.
02:04 And soon, NASA will launch a laser terminal on Artemis II,
02:08 a crewed mission to the moon.
02:11 On board the Orion crew capsule,
02:12 the O2O system will send back high-resolution images
02:16 and video from the lunar region.
02:18 Illuma-T, LCRD, T-Bird, and O2O
02:22 are only the start of how laser communications
02:25 are paving the way for advancing our scientific discoveries.
02:29 NASA is infusing lasers to further advance
02:32 our communications capabilities
02:34 from the International Space Station today
02:36 and to deep space in the future.
02:38 (upbeat music)
02:41 (upbeat music)
02:43 (upbeat music)
02:46 (upbeat music)
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