Lasers Are The Future Of Space Communications And NASA Is Building Them

Lasers Are The Future Of Space Communications And NASA Is Building Them

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NASA is launching a system they say is the future of space communications. Laser communications are faster and have 100 times more bandwidth.

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Lasers Are The Future Of Space Communications And NASA Is Building Them

NASA is getting ready to launch a new laser technology and assures it is the future of communications. Communicating to and from space is a challenging endeavor. NASA’s communications program works hard to move data from ground control to astronauts on the ISS, rovers on Mars, and distant interplanetary probes.

NASA Deep Space Network made up of small, medium, and massive antennas constantly scanning the deep space in all continents is the key structure of space communications. All of the space communications done by NASA rely on radio waves for communications. Radio waves in space degrade, delay, and can even be corrupted or reflected by solar storms, and the atmosphere, but NASA has been developing new ways to communicate.

In Florida, with just a two-hour launch window on December 5, NASA will be launching the first end-to-end laser relay system. The laser comms system will have a fast and furious ride to space on board an Atlas V rocket. The differences between laser and radio communications are massive. If radio waves can send 10 high-definition photographs in one minute, a laser can do 100. NASA says this is just the beginning of a technology that will soon scale, and some of the satellites orbiting the world may be outdated soon.

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Data Moving At The Speed Of The Light

NASA engineers in Las Cruces, New Mexico will activate the operations of the laser communication system aboard satellite STPSat-6. When they turn the payload on and begin transmitting data over infrared lasers they will have ended the era of radio space communications used by NASA and all other countries since the beginning. Encrypting data on laser beams, traveling at the speed of the light, NASA will first link ground stations in Hawaii and California. Later in the mission, the LCRD will receive and transmit data from an optical terminal that will be installed in the International Space Station.

NASA explains that missions and space activity continue to increase in number and complexity. The data they generate outpaces the ability of radio systems to handle it all. “The need to enhance communications capabilities becomes paramount,” NASA says. Laser communications not only increase capacities many times over but also decrease communication equipment size, weight, and power requirements. Less weight means cheaper launches and more space for other equipment.

NASA’s system is the first end-to-end two-way optical laser communication system. The downside of optical communications is that they cannot penetrate cloud coverage. NASA is building a network of stations that can work out different routes for the data to travel sorting out obstacles. With a rate of 1.2 gigabits per second, the future not only of space communications but of all communications is here, and NASA is building it.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/nasa-space-lasers-communication-network/

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