Proving that astronauts are, in fact, just big kids, NASA’s two-way end-to-end laser relay system was used to transmit more than 500 photos and videos of beloved pets flying through space.
The animals traveled via a laser communications link at speeds of 1.2 gigabits per second, faster than most home internet speeds.
NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik, Christina Koch and Kjell Lindgren, along with other NASA employees, submitted photos and video footage of their pets during the flight to and from the International Space Station.
Why do you ask?
Well, besides being fun, the transmission also allowed NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program to highlight the power and potential of laser communications and test new networking technologies.
“This is a first for the SCaN program,” said Kevin Coggins, deputy assistant administrator and SCaN program manager at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
“The pet photography campaign was rewarding in many ways for the ILLUMA-T, LCRD and HDTN teams.
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“Not only did this demonstrate the important role these technologies will play in enabling NASA’s future science and exploration missions, it also provided a fun opportunity for the team to ‘imagine’ their pets helping with this innovative demonstration.”
The quirky experiment started with computerized images at the Mission Operations Center in Las Cruces, N.M. The next step was for NASA to reroute the data to optical ground stations in California and Hawaii.
The scientists then modulated the data into an infrared signal, or laser, and transmitted it to NASA’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstrator (LCRD), which is in geostationary orbit about 22,000 miles above Earth — an orbit around the Earth with an orbital period that matches the Earth’s rotation period (so the satellite appears to remain in the same place).
The LCRD then relayed the data to the Integrated LCRD Low-Earth Orbit User Modem and Amplifier Terminal (ILLUMA-T), mounted on the outside of the space station.
Since the beginning of space travel, radio frequency communications have been essential to NASA missions to send and receive data to and from space.
Although both infrared and radio waves travel at the speed of light, laser communication uses infrared light instead of radio waves to send and receive information. Infrared light can transmit more data over a single link, making it a more convenient way to transfer scientific information.
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