NASA is using lasers to revolutionize how the agency communicates between spacecraft.
In the past, the space agency has relied on radio signals sent through its Deep Space Network to send any kind of scientific data from deep space probes back to Earth. Lasers, however, have the ability to increase the amount of data that spacecraft can transmit, and NASA is ready to send the technology around the moon.
NASA is integrating laser communications in the form of the Orion Artemis 2 Optical Communications System (O2O) terminal on Artemis 2, the next crewed mission around the moon. “Aboard the Orion capsule, the O2O system will transmit high-resolution images and videos from the lunar region,” a NASA video published in April states. If all goes according to plan, the system should allow viewers on Earth to see the moon in real-time like never before.
Related: NASA’s Artemis 2 mission: Everything you need to know
Imagine having dial-up internet for years, then upgrading to gigabit fiber optic speeds. That’s essentially what NASA hopes to accomplish for future spacecraft.
To lay the groundwork for future laser communications, NASA has launched several demonstration satellites in recent years. The Laser Communication Relay Demonstration (LCRD) launched in December 2021 is the agency’s first laser relay. That was followed by the TeraByte InfraRed Delivery (TBIRD) CubeSat launched last year, which reached data transmission rates of 200 gigabits per second.
Now, NASA is preparing the Integrated LCRD Low-Earth-Orbit (LEO) User Modem and Amplifier Terminal (ILLUMA-T), which is expected to launch to the International Space Station (ISS) later this year. ILLUMA-T will be attached to the exposed facility in the Japanese Experiment Module.
Once operational, ILLUMA-T will relay data back to Earth via LCRD in NASA’s first end-to-end laser relay communications system, laying the groundwork for the O2O system that will be aboard Orion during the Artemis 2.
However, as NASA notes in its recent video, these experiments are “just the beginning of how laser communications pave the way for the advancement of our scientific discoveries.”
The success of Artemis 1 last year put Artemis 2 on an imminent path to launch, which would fly the first astronauts to the moon since 1972. Images from cameras mounted on Orion captured the world on the first spacecraft mission to lunar orbit and back. .
With a crew on board for Artemis 2, NASA hopes to send back not only high-resolution images, but also video. If all goes according to plan with these laser communications experiments, we can expect to see lots of live or near-live crew updates with the gorgeous background of the lunar surface visible through Orion’s windows.