LOS ANGELES, Oct. 3, 2024 (Xinhua) — NASA announced Thursday that its Psyche mission has sent a signal from Martian orbit, marking a critical achievement for the mission.
The Psyche spacecraft, which launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida last October, is the first American mission ever to study a metal-rich asteroid in the far reaches of the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Almost a year after its launch, NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications Experiment sent a laser signal from Earth to the Psyche spacecraft, about 460 million kilometers away, NASA said.
Shortly after reaching this milestone on July 29, the technology experiment completed the first phase of operations since its launch aboard Psyche.
This achievement is evidence that humans may one day be able to transfer data to and from Mars using laser beams, according to NASA.
NASA said that by transmitting data at rates up to 100 times higher than radio frequencies, lasers can enable the transmission of complex scientific information as well as high-definition images and videos, which are necessary to support to humanity’s next great leap when astronauts travel to Mars. and beyond.
NASA said the Psyche spacecraft is in good condition and stable, as it uses ion propulsion to accelerate toward a metal-rich asteroid in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
