REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — The wonders of technology and human orbital achievements reached a new point when a video of an adorable cat named Taters was beamed from outer space to reach Earth, or a distance of about 19 million miles. NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) conducted a Space Optical Communication Experiment (DSOC) that shocked the world on December 11, 2023.
They managed to beam ultra-high definition video of a cat named Taters from a distance of 19 million miles (31 million kilometers) in space. This experiment was carried out using a spacecraft Psyche NASA is on its way to a strange metal asteroid called 16 Psyche (in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter), after being launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on October 13.
Although it looks like a creative experiment, NASA leaders emphasize that this is an important step for the development of deeper space exploration. “Increasing our bandwidth is critical to achieving future exploration and science goals, and we look forward to the continued advancement of this technology and the transformation of the way we communicate during future interplanetary missions,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, as reported by SpaceFriday (22/12/2023).
Taters videos are broadcast via a new instrument developed by JPL, known as transceiver laser flight. Near-infrared laser signals are beamed to the Hale Telescope at the California Institute of Technology’s Palomar Observatory. In 101 seconds, the signal reached Earth with a transmission speed of 267 megabits per second (Mbps). For comparison, the average broadband speed in the United States is around 219 Mbps, while in the UK it is around 92 Mbps.
“Despite transmitting from millions of miles away, it is capable of sending video faster than most broadband internet connections,” said the project’s lead electronic receiver scientist, Ryan Rogalin.
In fact, the internet connection when the video was received at Palomar was slower than the signal coming from space. Instrument transceiver laser the flight conducted a “first light” test in November 2023, sending a signal to Earth from 10 million miles away.
Most of the signals sent were random packets of information, but a team of JPL scientists decided to add a little fun to this historical demonstration by sending a cute video of the cat.
DSOC project manager at JPL, Bill Klipstein, explained that one of the goals is to demonstrate the ability to transmit broadband video over millions of miles. “There’s nothing in Psyche that generates video data, so we typically send randomly generated test data packets,” Klipstein said.
However, to make this important event even more memorable, Klipstein explains the team decided to work with designers at JPL to create a fun video that captures the essence of this demo as part of the Psyche mission.
Psyche is currently on its way to Mars in 2026, where the spacecraft will take several images of the Red Planet before heading towards its primary target, 16 Psyche, which is scheduled to be reached in 2029.
2023-12-22 04:56:10
#NASA #Sends #Video #Funny #Cat #Taters #Million #Miles #Republika #Online
