Transmission from the Psyche probe 30 million km away: “It’s faster than high-speed internet.”
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has succeeded for the first time in transmitting images faster than high-speed Internet using a laser in deep space, more than 30 million kilometers away from Earth.
According to CNN on the 18th (local time), NASA’s Psyche probe transmitted its first image to the Hale Telescope at Caltech’s Palomar Observatory using Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) technology on the 11th. did.
This video is a high definition (FHD) test video that is 15 seconds long and has 1080p resolution. It showed a cat named ‘Tatter’ moving around on a sofa trying to catch a laser pointer.
DSOC is a method of transmitting data using a near-infrared laser. It can transmit data at 10 to 100 times the speed of the radio wave system used by NASA for existing space probes and communications.
At the time of the video transmission, the distance between the Psyche probe and Earth was known to be approximately 31 million km. This is about 80 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon.
Ryan Rogellin of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), who participated in DSOC, said that even over such long distances, “we were able to transmit video faster than even the fastest broadband Internet.”
He also added that this video received from the Palomar Observatory was posted on the Internet, but the Internet connection speed was slower than the transmission speed from the Psyche probe, and recently, 1.3 terabit worth of data was received from the Psyche probe in one night.
“This achievement highlights our commitment to advanced optical communications as a key element to meet future data transmission demands,” NASA Associate Administrator Pam Malloy said in a statement.
“Increasing (communication) bandwidth is critical to achieving our future exploration and scientific goals, and we look forward to continuing to advance this technology and transform the way we communicate on future planetary missions.” emphasized.
An image of the Psyche probe unveiled at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on August 11 (local time). 2023.12.19
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DSOC is considered an essential technology for transmitting and receiving large amounts of data, such as high-definition photos and videos, that will be collected from space in the future, and once the technology is completed, it is expected to be applied to NASA missions throughout space.
The Psyche probe, launched on October 13, is moving to the asteroid Psyche, located in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. It will arrive in Psyche orbit six years later in August 2029 and perform its mission for at least 26 months.
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