Astronomers at Nasa have made a crucial space communications breakthrough by successfully transmitting a signal from a staggering distance of 290 million miles.
The feat – transmitting a laser signal to the Psyche spacecraft, named for the Greek goddess of the soul and launched on a SpaceX rocket last year – has shattered the agency’s previous records, and could revolutionise our exploration of the solar system.
Though Psyche’s main mission is to study an asteroid of the same name, the craft is also helping Nasa experiment with testing laser communication through space.
The laser technology forms part of Nasa’s Deep Space Optical Communications experiment and promises to send data at rates up to 100 times faster than current radio frequencies.
This breakthrough could pave the way for more complex and high-definition data transmission, potentially transforming future crewed missions to Mars and beyond.
The laser technology forms part of Nasa’s Deep Space Optical Communications experiment
NASA
Nasa hopes the breakthrough will boost the prospects of future Mars missions, as well as our ability to study the solar system more generally.
The US-based agency’s administrator Bill Nelson said on social media: “This extraordinary achievement will transform the way we explore the solar system.”
The successful test shows that using lasers could prove a robust method for future space endeavours – but the precision required for laser communication presented significant challenges.
Meera Srinivasan, the project’s operations lead at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, explained: “The milestone is significant.
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Nasa administrator Bill Nelson said on social media: “This extraordinary achievement will transform the way we explore the solar system”
NASA
“Laser communication requires a very high level of precision, and before we launched with Psyche, we didn’t know how much performance degradation we would see at our farthest distances.
“Now the techniques we use to track and point have been verified, confirming that optical communications can be a robust and transformative way to explore the solar system.”
The distance covered by the laser signal – some 460 million kilometres – is comparable to the maximum distance between Earth and Mars, highlighting the technology’s potential for future interplanetary missions.
And the agency’s laser communication achievements have been steadily progressing.
The distance covered by the laser signal – some 460 million kilometres – is comparable to the maximum distance between Earth and Mars
GETTY
Late last year, Nasa successfully transmitted data from 10 million miles away in a move hailed as a “first light” by the agency.
This was followed by a series of record-breaking transmissions as Psyche ventured further into space.
One notable milestone was the transmission of the first ultra-high-definition video from space, featuring a cat named Taters.
Late last year, Nasa successfully transmitted data from 10 million miles away in a move hailed as a “first light” by the agency
NASA
But as the Psyche drifts further from Earth, data transmission rates decrease.
When Psyche was just 33 miles away, it could receive data at 267 megabits per second.
By the time of this latest record, the maximum rate had plummeted to 8.3 megabits per second.