NASA's First Use Of Lasers To Send Back 15 Seconds Of Real-time HD Video From Deep Space

According to NASA (NASA) latest news, in the technology demonstration on December 11, NASA for the first time the use of lasers from the Earth about 31 million kilometers (about 80 times the distance between the Earth and the moon) from deep space to send back a section of ultra-high-definition streaming video.
The video shows a lively orange tabby cat named Taters chasing a moving laser spot. It also marks a historic milestone - although researchers have previously used lasers to transmit signals between near-Earth orbit and the moon, this is the first time the technology has been demonstrated in deep space.
NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy said, "This achievement underscores our commitment to advancing optical communications as a key element in meeting future data transmission needs. Increased bandwidth is critical to achieving our future exploration and science goals, and we look forward to this technology ushering in continued advances and transforming the way humans communicate on future interplanetary missions."
Specific operational procedures and objectives
The experiment is designed to transmit very high-bandwidth video and other data from deep space, thereby enabling future human missions beyond near-Earth orbit. The demonstration transmitted a total of 15 seconds of test video through a sophisticated instrument called a flight laser transceiver. The video signal was sent at the system's maximum bit rate of 267 megabits per second (Mbps) and ultimately returned to Earth in 101 seconds.
The instrument was able to send and receive near-infrared signals and fired a coded near-infrared laser at the Hale Telescope at Caltech's Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California, where it successfully downloaded the file.
Each frame of the looping video was then sent in "real time" to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, where it was broadcast in real time.
The laser communications demonstration was launched Oct. 13 in conjunction with NASA's Psyche mission, which NASA hopes will enable it to transmit data from deep space 10 to 100 times faster than the state-of-the-art radio communications technology currently in use. The technology demonstration will send high data-rate signals to the Red Planet, the farthest planet from Earth, as Psych travels to the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. In the process, it paves the way for future high-data-rate communications that send complex scientific information, high-definition images and video to support humanity's next giant leap: sending humans to live on Mars.
"One of the goals is to demonstrate the ability to transmit broadband video across millions of miles. there is no video data generated on Psyche, so we usually send randomly generated test packets," said Bill Klipstein, program manager for technology demonstrations at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "But to make this momentous event even more memorable, we decided to work with the designers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to create a fun video that captures the essence of the demonstration as part of the Psych mission."
Cat and cat video from deep space
Taters, a tiger cat, is seen chasing a moving laser spot, the pet of a Jet Propulsion Laboratory employee, in this short, ultra-high-definition video uploaded prior to launch, which features superimposed graphics. The images show several parameters of the tech demo, such as Psych's orbital path, the dome of the Palomar telescope, and technical information about the laser and its data bit rate. Additionally, the heart rate, color and breed of Taters cats and kittens are displayed in real time.
"Despite transmitting from millions of miles away, it's able to send video faster than most broadband Internet connections," said Ryan Rogalin of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who is the project's head of receiver electronics. "In fact, after the video is received at Palomar, it is sent to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory over the Internet, a connection that is slower than signals from deep space. The design lab at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory did a marvelous job helping us demonstrate the technology - and everyone loved the Taters."
There's a history behind the choice of this cat video for the sky: since 1928, a popular cartoon character, Garfield, has appeared on TV test broadcasts. Nowadays, "Garfield" videos and emoticons are still popular on the Internet. The magic of moving laser dots for cats creates even more funny moments for animal friends!
One milestone after another
This latest milestone follows the realization on November 14 of the "first light" key node for laser communications in space. The system is now well on its way to verifying faster data downlink speeds and improving pointing accuracy during weekly checks. on the evening of December 4, the project demonstrated downlink bit rates of 62.5 Mbps, 100 Mbps, and 267 Mbps, which are comparable to broadband Internet download speeds. In total, the team downloaded 1.3 terabits of data during this period.
The deep-space optical communications demonstration is the latest in a series of optical communications demonstrations funded by the Technology Demonstration Mission (TDM) program under NASA's Space Technology Mission Council and supported by the SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) program within NASA's Space Operations Mission Council.