The Orion spacecraft for the manned mission to the moon Artemis 2 is equipped with a laser communication system. Photos/NASA/Space
FLORIDA – Orion spaceship for manned mission to the moon Artemis 2 is equipped with a laser communication system. Module communication Artemis 2 laser called the Optical Communications System (O2O) has a speed of 260 megabits per second.
O2O communication systems use high-tech lasers to transmit messages at much greater data rates than conventional radio transmissions. This technology will greatly increase the speed and type of data transfer that Artemis 2 astronauts send to Earth.
“At 260 megabits per second, the O2O laser communication system is capable of transmitting 4K high-definition video from the moon,” said O2O project manager Steve Horowitz quoted by SINDOnews from the Space page, Tuesday (27/6/2023).
The O2O laser communication system was developed at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, with assistance from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Lincoln Laboratory. The project is funded under NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program.
SCaN has completed successful laser communications demonstrations across a variety of missions, including the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) in 2021 and the TeraByte InfraRed Delivery (TBIRD) mission in 2022. In addition, SCaN delivered an Integrated LCRD Low-Earth-Orbit laser communications relay User Modem and Amplifier Terminal (ILLUMA-T) to the International Space Station (ISS) later this year.
The O2O communication system allows Artemis 2 astronauts to share their lunar journey in a new and unprecedented way. The laser communication system will handle more than just images and video from the crew, also embedded in the infrastructure of the Orion system.
“The O2O laser communication system will send and receive procedures, drawings, flight plans, and serve as the link between Orion and mission control on Earth,” said Horowitz.
For the Artemis 2 mission, two ground stations were selected in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and Table Mountain, California, to receive Orion’s O2O data transmissions. Both locations were chosen due to predominant clear skies as excessive cloudy conditions may affect the quality of the laser communication data transmission.
“The successful demonstration of O2O on Orion during Artemis 2 could help the technology enter more aspects of spaceflight. It even enables a simplified communications infrastructure on future NASA missions to the moon and beyond,” said Horowitz.
(wib)
2023-06-27 06:53:04
#Artemis #Mission #Laser #Communications #Speeds #Megabits