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Briefcase
May 2, 2024 6:41 p.m. m.
In mid-October 2023, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) decided to launch Psyche into space. This probe, which orbits the Sun in an area between Mars and Jupiter, was sent with the aim of studying the asteroid that gives it its name.
(Read more: What would happen to the Earth if the Sun ran out of energy? This is what a study says)
In November, the space agency managed to send an infrared message to the ship that, at that time, was 16 million kilometers away. And although this was a great feat, NASA managed to outdo itself with its most recent experiment.
Last April 8 about 10 minutes of duplicate data was downloaded coming from Psyche. This is a milestone because the signal was received from about 226 million kilometers away.
“Until then, we had been sending test and diagnostic data on our downlinks from Psyche. This represents an important milestone for the project by showing how optical communications can interface with a spacecraft’s radio frequency communications system,” said Meera Srinivasan, project operations leader.
(Read more: NASA invited a Colombian student delegation to its Marshall Space Flight Center base)
(See: NASA would bring soil samples from Mars by 2030)
The organization also explained that the communications technology that is part of the initiative is designed to transmit data from deep space. With speeds 10 to 100 times faster.
But, why is this important? The answer has to do with the fact that this type of technology would demonstrate that it is possible for laser communications to be carried out over cosmic distances. That is, allowing a fast connection between humans and the probes that are sent.
The above will be a key element when the time comes to take the next leap: sending humans to Mars.
(More news: What is known about Spaceport, the space project with which Peru seeks to stand out)
BRIEFCASE
