While en route to its primary target, the asteroid Psyche, the probe POT of the same name is testing a new way of communication with the Earth: the laser.
And this week the American Space Agency reported that it managed the record of receiving a message 226 million kilometers from our planet, a way to revolutionize space communications since they can reach further and faster than radio waves.
Unlike its predecessors, which are even further awaylike Voyager 1 and 2Juno and others, Psyche is the first equipped ship with a laser transceiveran optical communications system called Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) or Deep Space Optical Communications System. All this, in addition to a traditional radio antenna.
Generally, information is sent through radio waves, since it is the traditional way. For example, the messages transmitted by the probe Voyager-1which is currently more than 24,000 million kilometers, it takes 22.5 hours to arrive and many others to leave the Earth.
Scientists have said several times that something faster is needed, especially when thinking about a future with manned missions to distant worlds, so they are exploring ways to send a message via laser.
The DSOC can transmit data much faster than a radio frequency antenna using a near-infrared laser. It’s not that the laser travels faster (light always moves at 300,000 kilometers per second), but it has a bandwidth between 10 and 100 times greaterhence You can send and receive more data in less time.
In addition to visiting an asteroid, the Psyche probe has other very relevant secondary missions for the future. One of them is to test DSOC technology. In November of last year, NASA managed to send an infrared message when the spacecraft was at 16 million kilometers awaywhich was a record.
That message only contained information about the ship’s position. However, the US space agency outdid itself in its next experiment. Specifically, what it did was send a 15-second high-definition video clip to Earth when Psyche was already 30 million kilometers away. The most surprising thing of all was the content: a kitten playing with a laser pointer.
On April 8, 2024, the Psyche probe was already 226 million kilometers from Earththat is, beyond the orbit of Mars and at a distance equivalent to 1.5 times that separating our planet from the Sun, while there are still more than 5 years of travel left until the encounter with the asteroid in question.
At that point, NASA decided to go one step further and transmit 10 minutes of data to our planet, as confirmed Meera Srinivasan project operations manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). “This is a very important milestone for the project, as it shows how optical communications can interact with the radio frequency communications system of a spacecraft,” said Srinivasan.
In addition, he emphasized that the experiment is a great step for enable the transmission of complex scientific information, high definition images and videos. Something that will be key when the time comes to send humans to Mars.
Communications for the missions of the POT in deep space are run by the Deep Space Network, a network of antennas at three sites around the world that primarily use radio. But Laser communications could offer 10 to 100 times more bandwidth, Therefore, NASA wants to experiment with the use of this technology in situations such as the transfer of scientific data.
The DSOC experiment will continue for another two years, primarily using test data, but potentially sending data from the Psyche spacecraft. The ship is also equipped with traditional radio communications, so this would be purely a test of functionality.
“Optical communication is a boon for scientists and researchers who always want more from their space missions, and will enable human exploration of deep space. More data means more discoveries,” said Jason Mitchell, director of the Advanced Communications and Navigation Technologies Division within NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program.
Typically, information, both on and off Earth, is sent via radio waves. The information, of any type, is converted into an electrical signal through a transducer and then that signal is transformed into radio waves, which are capable of traveling in all directions through space without the need for cables. This has allowed communication with space for decades, but it also has some obstacles.
Lasers use mid-frequency infrared radiation, with wavelengths low enough to carry a lot of information at once. This is because data can be loaded in each of the oscillations of the wave. If its length is low, there will be more oscillations in the same space and more information can be loaded.
Furthermore, since the photon beam is directed at a specific point, the information is not lost in all directions and can travel faster. Specifically, it is estimated that sending a message via laser would be between 10 and 100 times faster than radio waves.
The main objective of the Psyche probe, which was launched into space by NASA on October 13, 2023, is to study the asteroid that gives it its name and orbits the Sun in a position between Mars and Jupiter.
this body It has become famous for the materials it contains. In total, it is estimated that its value would be equivalent to 10 trillion dollars, that is, higher than that of the current world economy as a whole.
