NASA reveals messages that reached Earth from deep space. Get to know them
NASA receives radio and laser messages from deep space. Over the past few months, the US space agency has used its Psyche spacecraft to test a new communications system.
NASA reveals messages that reached Earth from deep space. Get to know them
The probe's main goal is to visit an asteroid with the same name, but it sends laser messages to Earth in the meantime. This is done through optical communications in deep space, where near-infrared lasers send messages to Earth.
It was first tested in November when a laser signal was detected 10 million miles away, and among the messages sent was a video of a cat.
The advantage of DSOC over radio is that better bandwidth speeds mean data can be received faster, but due to some technological challenges, NASA researchers are considering a combination of radio and laser to be the better option.
The latest test received data twice as far as the previous test, from 32 million kilometers (20 million miles).
On January 1, they downloaded an image from the Psyche team at a rate of 15.63 megabits per second, 40 times faster than standard radio frequency.
“Our hybrid antenna was able to successfully and reliably lock and track the DSOC downlink shortly after the technology demonstration launch,” Amy Smith, deputy director of NASA's Deep Space Network at JPL, said in a statement.
“It also received a radio frequency signal from Psyche, so we demonstrated simultaneous radio and optical frequency communications in deep space for the first time,” she added.
A small device made up of seven hexagonal mirrors was mounted on the existing antenna. “It's a heavy-duty optical system built on a 34-meter [112-foot] flexible structure,” said Barzeya Tehrani, deputy director of ground communications systems at JPL.
“We use a system of mirrors, tiny sensors and cameras to align and direct the laser from deep space to the fibers arriving at the detector.”
The hope is that NASA will be able to track Psyche when the distance between Earth and the Sun is 2.5 times greater.
Source: websites