In a remarkable achievement, NASA announced on Thursday the successful reception of data in the farthest-ever demonstration of laser, or optical, communications. The breakthrough comes courtesy of NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) experiment, which transmitted a near-infrared laser encoded with test data from nearly 10 million miles away.
To put this into perspective, the distance is approximately 40 times farther than the Moon’s proximity to Earth. The data was transmitted to the Hale Telescope at Caltech’s Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California. This achievement, termed “first light,” is a crucial milestone in NASA’s ongoing efforts to enhance the capacity for transmitting data across the solar system. Trudy Kortes, the director of Technology Demonstrations at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., emphasized the significance of achieving first light, stating that it marks a critical step toward advancing communication capabilities, enabling the transmission of scientific information, high-definition imagery, and streaming video.
The ultimate goal is to support humanity’s ambitious plans, including the prospect of sending humans to Mars. NASA draws a parallel between the upgrade to optical communications and the historical shift from traditional telephone lines to fibre optics. The transition to optical communications is expected to substantially boost the capacity of current state-of-the-art radio systems used by spacecraft, potentially increasing it by 10 to 100 times.
The DSOC experiment represents NASA’s inaugural demonstration of optical communications beyond the Moon. The system comprises a flight laser transceiver, a ground laser transmitter, and a ground laser receiver. Riding aboard NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, which launched on October 13, the transceiver is part of a mission primarily focused on reaching and studying the asteroid Psyche 16, known for its metal-rich composition, situated in the asteroid belt.
The successful transmission of data over such vast distances opens up new possibilities for space exploration and communication. NASA’s DSOC experiment serves as a pioneering effort, showcasing the potential of optical communications to revolutionize the way information is transmitted in the vast reaches of our solar system. As technology continues to evolve, these advancements are integral to shaping the future of space missions, ensuring that we can communicate effectively and gather essential data from even the most distant corners of our celestial neighbourhood.
