There has been a major breakthrough in space communication as NASA’s Psyche spacecraft has achieved a major breakthrough in space communication, successfully transmitted a laser message from a distance of approximately 16 million kilometers (10 million miles) – a distance 40 times farther than the Moon from Earth.
This achievement, the Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) experiment, a part of the Psyche mission, has significant implications for the future of interstellar communication and space exploration.
On November 14, the DSOC marked a pivotal moment, referred to as “first light.” This success came after a precise maneuver, with the DSOC’s laser transceiver locking onto JPL’s powerful uplink laser beacon at the Table Mountain Observatory. This alignment enabled the DSOC to direct its laser signal to Caltech’s Palomar Observatory, situated 130 kilometers (100 miles) away.
Trudy Kortes, Director of Technology Demonstrations at NASA HQ, described this achievement as a critical milestone, stating, “Achieving first light is one of many critical DSOC milestones in the coming months, paving the way toward higher-data-rate communications capable of sending scientific information, high-definition imagery, and streaming video in support of humanity’s next giant leap: sending humans to Mars.”
The DSOC experiment employs optical communication technology, which has been used in Earth’s orbit but has now been extended to a record-breaking distance. Optical communication involves the coordinated movement of photons in the same direction at the same wavelength, allowing for the transmission of vast data by encoding it into light wave oscillations. This optical signal is then transmitted via infrared beams, which are invisible to the human eye.
Traditionally, NASA has relied on radio waves for communication with missions beyond the Moon. However, laser beams offer a significant advantage in data transmission, allowing for the compression of data into tighter waves. The DSOC tech demo aims to demonstrate transmission rates 10-100 times greater than current radio communication systems.
This enhanced data capacity opens the door to missions with higher-resolution scientific instruments and faster communication, including the possibility of live video streaming from Mars.
While optical communication shows immense potential, it is not without its challenges. As the distance between sender and receiver increases, precise targeting of the laser beam becomes more challenging, and the signal strength diminishes, potentially leading to communication delays.
During the November 14 test, it took around 50 seconds for photons to travel from Psyche to Earth. As Psyche continues its journey and reaches greater distances, the travel time for photons will extend to approximately 20 minutes, necessitating adjustments on both ends to account for changing positions.
Despite these challenges, the DSOC experiment’s success marks a significant step forward in space communication. Meera Srinivasan, operations lead for DSOC at JPL, acknowledged the formidable challenge, stating, “[The] test was the first to fully incorporate the ground assets and flight transceiver, requiring the DSOC and Psyche operations teams to work in tandem.”
In the words of Abi Biswas, project technologist for DSOC at JPL, they were able to exchange “bits of light” to and from deep space, pointing to the transformative potential of this technology for future space exploration communication.