In the future, we will want to expand the Internet worldwide throughout the galaxy, and the NASA has just shown a key piece of technology that could help, transmitting messages via lasers some 16 million kilometres from Earth.
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That's about 40 times farther than the Moon, and it is the first time optical communications have been sent over such a distance.
Traditionally, we use radio waves to communicate with remote spaceships - but higher frequencies of light, such as near infrared, offer an increase in bandwidth and therefore a huge leap in data speed.
If we want to be able to send high-definition video messages to and from the Mars without significant delay, then this is the Technology we need.
The test is part of the experiment Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) of NASA, and the successful establishment of the communication link is referred to as "first light".
For high-speed communications on the earth's surface, we all rely on similar technologies embedded in fibre optics. However, here it has been adapted to be used in space, in order to improve existing methods of transmitting information to Earth.
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As infrared light, engineers can easily transmit its waves in the form of lasers. This does not speed up the movement of the light, but rather arranges and confines its beam in a narrow channel. This requires much less energy than radio waves and is harder to track.
It does not mean that it is a simple task. The data are encoded in the photons emitted by the laser, which requires a number of sophisticated tools - including a panel of high-performance superconducting detectors - to prepare the information for transmission and translate it to the other end.
Another challenging factor is the real-time adjustment of the system's positioning layout. In this latest test, the laser photons took about 50 seconds to get from the spacecraft to the telescope, and both were moving at high speed through space during this process.
The laser transceiver that made the connection is embedded in the Psyche spacecraft, which is on a two-year technology demonstration mission heading for the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. He contacted the Hale Telescope at Palomar University in California.
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Testing will continue to optimise this innovative near-infrared laser communication method, and ensure it is as fast and reliable as required.
Source: science alert
