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
00:00Have you ever tried to download a movie with slow internet?
00:03It buffers and it takes forever.
00:05Now imagine trying to download movies all the way from space.
00:09The International Space Station's new terminal,
00:12ALUMA-T,
00:13will use laser communications
00:15to demonstrate an enhanced way to transmit data.
00:18In fact, ALUMA-T can transmit data
00:21at a rate that would allow you to download a movie
00:23in under a minute.
00:26The process of sending and receiving spacecraft data
00:29is known as space communications.
00:31NASA is enhancing space communications capabilities
00:35through the power of lasers.
00:37Laser communications use higher data rates
00:40to send an increased amount of science and exploration data
00:43to Earth in a single transmission.
00:46Historically, we've relied on radio frequency communications
00:49to send and receive data from space.
00:52With laser communications,
00:54we are supplementing that method.
00:56Laser communications can help NASA's science missions
00:59send more information and data
01:01that is vital to our understanding of our planet,
01:04the solar system, and beyond.
01:07To prove these groundbreaking capabilities,
01:10NASA is infusing laser communications
01:12into multiple missions.
01:16One of these missions is a relay satellite known as LCRD.
01:21LCRD launched in 2021
01:23and is NASA's first-ever laser relay,
01:25which will receive data from ALUMA-T on the space station.
01:30Together, LCRD and ALUMA-T
01:32are NASA's first-ever end-to-end laser relay system,
01:36demonstrating the benefits of a laser communications system.
01:40Laser terminals are ideal for missions like the space station
01:43because they are typically smaller, lighter,
01:46and more efficient than comparable radio systems.
01:50In 2022, NASA launched another laser communications mission
01:54called T-BIRD to demonstrate 200 gigabit per second data rates,
01:58a record-setting rate for the agency.
02:01T-BIRD is a small satellite.
02:02It's only the size of a tissue box.
02:05And soon, NASA will launch a laser terminal on Artemis II,
02:08a crewed mission to the moon.
02:11On board the Orion crew capsule,
02:13the O2O system will send back high-resolution images
02:16and video from the lunar region.
02:19ALUMA-T, LCRD, T-BIRD, and O2O
02:22are only the start of how laser communications
02:25are paving the way for advancing our scientific discoveries.
02:30NASA is infusing lasers to further advance
02:32our communications capabilities
02:34from the International Space Station today
02:36and to deep space in the future.
02:48NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
02:50California Institute of Technology