NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) technology demonstration has set a new milestone in laser communications by successfully transmitting a laser signal to the Psyche spacecraft, NASA announced on Thursday.
The Psyche spacecraft, launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in October last year, is the first U.S. mission to study a metal-rich asteroid located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Nearly a year after its launch, the DSOC experiment achieved a groundbreaking accomplishment on July 29 by sending a laser signal from Earth to the Psyche spacecraft when it was approximately 460 million kilometers away. This distance is equivalent to the maximum separation between Earth and Mars.
The successful transmission marks a significant advancement in deep-space communication technology. According to NASA, this milestone demonstrates the potential for future communications with Mars and beyond using lasers, which can transmit data at rates up to 100 times higher than traditional radio frequencies.
Such high-speed data transfer capabilities are crucial for the transmission of complex scientific data, high-definition images, and videos necessary to support future human missions to Mars and deeper into space.
Following the successful demonstration, the DSOC experiment concluded the first phase of its operations aboard Psyche. The spacecraft remains healthy and stable, continuing its journey using ion propulsion toward the metal-rich asteroid it is set to study.
NASA’s achievement with the DSOC not only paves the way for more efficient communication with distant spacecraft but also holds promise for enhancing the capabilities of future space exploration missions.
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NASA's tech sends laser signal to Mars' farthest distance from Earth
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