NASA does not put a limit on its research and its latest projects make it clear that they achieve new things every time. Through this entity’s Psyche probe it seeks new ways to communicate with Earth. This time they decided to try a laser beam. This milestone represents a significant advance in interplanetary communication capacity and opens new possibilities for future space missions that are within its capabilities.
The record that NASA broke with a message
Recently, the agency has achieved an unprecedented achievement by send a message an astonishing distance of 226 million kilometers from Earth. With a new achievement unlocked they demonstrate how capable they are for space communication and how far and fast radio waves can travel. Let us remember that this probe was sent into space last October 13, 2023.
This technical milestone not only demonstrates the human ingenuity and technological capacity of the POT, but also represents a testament to the innate desire to explore and understand the vast cosmos that surrounds us. This new achievement was made April 8, 2024.
This shows the position of the Psyche spacecraft on April 8 when the DSOC flight laser transceiver transmitted data at a rate of 25 Mbps. Photo: NASA
How did they achieve spatial communication?
In contrast to its more distant predecessors, such as the Voyager 1 and 2 and Juno probes, among other, Psyche It was the mode for space communication and is distinguished by being the first spacecraft to incorporate a laser transceiver. This device is part of an innovative optical communications system known as Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) or, in Spanish, Deep Space Optical Communications System. In addition, it maintains a traditional radio antenna to complement its communication system.
NASA was the entity in charge of explaining how far the last message was managed to obtain through the Psyche probe. Photo: Breaking News
Scientists say fast communications are needed
On several occasions, scientists have commented that something faster is required, this more than anything if we think about a future with possible missions to worlds we have not known, so they are exploring new methods. That’s why the DSOC has the ability to transmit data at a significantly higher speed than a radio frequency antenna, thanks to the use of a near-infrared laser.
Furthermore, it is not that the laser moves at a higher speed (light always travels at 300,000 kilometers per second)but its bandwidth is between 10 and 100 times greater. This means you can send and receive a greater amount of data in a shorter period of time.
On Friday, October 13, the Psyche spacecraft was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo: La Vanguardia
The kitten playing with laser
In addition to its main mission of exploring an asteroid, the Psyche probe has other secondary objectives of great importance for the future. One of them is testing DSOC technology. In November last year, NASA achieved a milestone by sending an infrared message when the ship was at a distance of 16 million kilometers, setting a new record that they did not expect to be surpassed so soon.
That message only contained data about the ship’s location. However, the US space agency outdid itself in its next experiment. On this occasion, he managed to send a 15-second high-definition video clip to Earth when Psyche was already 30 million kilometers away. The most amazing thing of all was what the video was about: a kitten playing with a laser pointer.
