NASA researchers They have successfully tested Laser communications in space by transmitting 4K video streams originating from an aircraft in the sky to the International Space Station and back.
The feat demonstrates that the space agency could provide live coverage of a moon landing during Artemis missions and bodes well for the development of optical communications that could connect humans to Mars and beyond. NASA typically uses radio waves to send data and communicate between the surface and space, but it says laser communications using infrared light can transmit data 10 to 100 times faster than radios.
Engineers equipped an airplane with a portable laser terminal, which flew over Lake Erie and sent data back to downtown Cleveland. The data was transmitted via a ground network to NASA's test facility in New Mexico, where scientists controlled the data transmission process to the agency's Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) satellite, 22,000 miles away. The LCRD then relayed the data back to NASA. technology/space-comms/nasas-first-two-way-end-to-end-laser-communications-system/”>LIGHTING-T (Low Earth Orbit User Modem and Amplifier Terminal for Integrated Laser Communications Relay Demonstration) on the ISS.
Although the Artemis missions have been delayed, the fourth one to return humans to the Moon is still on track for 2028. By then, we could see crystal-clear 4K live streams of astronauts on the Moon displayed on conventional 8K TVs.
