NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications technology has achieved a groundbreaking milestone by successfully sending, receiving, and decoding data encoded in lasers after traveling hundreds of millions of kilometers across the Solar System. This innovative advancement is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) located in Southern California, where the Psyche spacecraft was launched in 2023. The Psyche mission aims to orbit and study the metallic asteroid 16 Psyche, with operations set to commence in 2029.
The Psyche spacecraft is equipped with a state-of-the-art laser transceiver, which enables it to send and receive data encoded in light beams from two ground stations on Earth. Once the beams are dispatched from our planet, JPL’s Table Mountain Facility activates a powerful 3-kilowatt laser beacon directed towards the spacecraft, enhancing Psyche's ability to lock onto Earth with improved accuracy. Even traveling at the speed of light, the laser signal takes several minutes to cover the vast distance between Earth and Psyche, both of which are in constant motion.
Upon arrival at the spacecraft, Psyche will respond by transmitting its own message back to Earth. To detect this faint signal, scientists utilize Caltech’s Palomar Observatory in San Diego County. This sophisticated facility is designed to capture the tiniest glimmers of light across the Solar System. The incoming photons are directed into a highly specialized detector array, where the data they carry is meticulously decoded, transforming these subtle flashes into meaningful information.
Optical communications are not a new concept; they have been employed for sending messages from space before. In fact, this recent achievement marks the 65th and final test of this cutting-edge technology. Traditionally, communication with distant spacecraft has relied on radio waves, as exemplified by the iconic Voyager 1 and 2 probes from the 1970s, which continue to relay information from beyond our Solar System. However, optical communications, particularly those utilizing lasers, present a superior alternative by enabling the transmission of significantly larger amounts of data at much higher speeds.
In December 2023, scientists successfully utilized laser beams to stream an ultra-high-definition video to Earth from an astounding distance of 31 million kilometers (19 million miles). This remarkable video featured a delightful 15-second clip of a cat playfully chasing a laser dot, showcasing the potential of optical communications in a lighthearted context.
According to Clayton Turner, associate administrator of the Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, “NASA Technology tests hardware in the harsh environment of space to understand its limits and prove its capabilities.” Over the past two years, this technology has exceeded expectations, demonstrating data rates comparable to those of household broadband internet while sending engineering and test data to Earth from record-breaking distances.
The recent achievement in the Psyche mission involved a laser communication distance of 350 million kilometers (218 million miles), surpassing the average distance between Earth and Mars, which is about 225 million kilometers (140 million miles). This advancement indicates that, with further refinements, this technology could facilitate communication between Earth and Mars, where NASA, along with other nations, plans to send human astronauts in the near future. Such advancements could pave the way for live streaming of human activities, like playing golf on the Martian surface.
Sean Duffy, acting NASA Administrator, stated, “NASA is setting America on the path to Mars, and advancing laser communications technologies brings us one step closer to streaming high-definition video and delivering valuable data from the Martian surface faster than ever before.” This commitment to testing and proving the capabilities of laser communications technology is fundamental to ushering in a new era of exploration, often referred to as the Golden Age of exploration.
