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NASA\u2019s Deep Space Optical Communications experiment also interfaced with the Psyche spacecraft\u2019s communication system for the first time, transmitting engineering data to Earth.<\/em><\/p>\n Riding aboard NASA\u2019s Psyche spacecraft, the agency\u2019s Deep Space Optical Communications technology demonstration continues to break records. While the asteroid-bound spacecraft doesn\u2019t rely on optical communications to send data, the new technology has proven that it\u2019s up to the task. After interfacing with the Psyche\u2019s radio frequency transmitter, the laser communications demo sent a copy of engineering data from over 140 million miles (226 million kilometers) away, 1\u00bd times the distance between Earth and the Sun.<\/p>\n This achievement provides a glimpse into how spacecraft could use optical communications in the future, enabling higher-data-rate communications of complex scientific information as well as high-definition imagery and video in support of humanity\u2019s next giant leap: sending humans to Mars.<\/p>\n \u201cWe downlinked about 10 minutes of duplicated spacecraft data during a pass on April 8,\u201d said Meera Srinivasan, the project\u2019s operations lead at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. \u201cUntil then, we\u2019d been sending test and diagnostic data in our downlinks from Psyche. This represents a significant milestone for the project by showing how optical communications can interface with a spacecraft\u2019s radio frequency comms system.\u201d<\/p>\n The laser communications technology in this demo is designed to transmit data from deep space at rates 10 to 100 times faster than the state-of-the-art radio frequency systems used by deep space missions today.<\/p>\n After launching on Oct. 13, 2023, the spacecraft remains healthy and stable as it journeys to the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter to visit the asteroid Psyche.<\/p>\n NASA\u2019s optical communications demonstration has shown that it can transmit test data at a maximum rate of 267 megabits per second (Mbps) from the flight laser transceiver\u2019s near-infrared downlink laser \u2014 a bit rate comparable to broadband internet download speeds.<\/p>\n That was achieved on Dec. 11, 2023, when the experiment beamed a 15-second ultra-high-definition video to Earth from 19 million miles away (31 million kilometers, or about 80 times the Earth-Moon distance). The video, along with other test data, including digital versions of Arizona State University\u2019s Psyche Inspired artwork, had been loaded onto the flight laser transceiver before Psyche launched last year.<\/p>\n Now that the spacecraft is more than seven times farther away, the rate at which it can send and receive data is reduced, as expected. During the April 8 test, the spacecraft transmitted test data at a maximum rate of 25 Mbps, which far surpasses the project\u2019s goal of proving at least 1 Mbps was possible at that distance.<\/p>\n The project team also commanded the transceiver to transmit Psyche-generated data optically. While Psyche was transmitting data over its radio frequency channel to NASA\u2019s Deep Space Network (DSN), the optical communications system simultaneously transmitted a portion of the same data to the Hale Telescope at Caltech\u2019s Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California \u2014 the tech demo\u2019s primary downlink ground station.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter receiving the data from the DSN and Palomar, we verified the optically downlinked data at JPL,\u201d said Ken Andrews, project flight operations lead at JPL. \u201cIt was a small amount of data downlinked over a short time frame, but the fact we\u2019re doing this now has surpassed all of our expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n After Psyche launched, the optical communications demo was initially used to downlink pre-loaded data, including the Taters the cat video. Since then, the project has proven that the transceiver can receive data from the high-power uplink laser at JPL\u2019s Table Mountain facility, near Wrightwood, California. Data can even be sent to the transceiver and then downlinked back to Earth on the same night, as the project proved in a recent \u201cturnaround experiment.\u201d<\/p>\n This experiment relayed test data \u2014 as well as digital pet photographs \u2014 to Psyche and back again, a round trip of up to 280 million miles (450 million kilometers). It also downlinked large amounts of the tech demo\u2019s own engineering data to study the characteristics of the optical communications link.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve learned a great deal about how far we can push the system when we do have clear skies, although storms have interrupted operations at both Table Mountain and Palomar on occasion,\u201d said Ryan Rogalin, the project\u2019s receiver electronics lead at JPL. (Whereas radio frequency communications can operate in most weather conditions, optical communications require relatively clear skies to transmit high-bandwidth data.)<\/p>\n JPL recently led an experiment to combine Palomar, the experimental radio frequency-optical antenna at the DSN\u2019s Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex in Barstow, California, and a detector at Table Mountain to receive the same signal in concert. \u201cArraying\u201d multiple ground stations to mimic one large receiver can help boost the deep space signal. This strategy can also be useful if one ground station is forced offline due to weather conditions; other stations can still receive the signal.<\/p>\n Managed by JPL, this demonstration is the latest in a series of optical communication experiments funded by the Technology Demonstration Missions (TDM) program under NASA\u2019s Space Technology Mission Directorate and the agency\u2019s SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) program within the Space Operations Mission Directorate. Development of the flight laser transceiver is supported by MIT Lincoln Laboratory, L3 Harris, CACI, First Mode, and Controlled Dynamics Inc., and Fibertek, Coherent, and Dotfast support the ground systems. Some of the technology was developed through NASA\u2019s Small Business Innovation Research program.<\/p>\n Arizona State University leads the Psyche mission. JPL is responsible for the mission\u2019s overall management, system engineering, integration and test, and mission operations. Psyche is the 14th mission selected as part of NASA\u2019s Discovery Program under the Science Mission Directorate, managed by the agency\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. NASA\u2019s Launch Services Program, based at the agency\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, managed the launch service. Maxar Technologies provided the high-power solar electric propulsion spacecraft chassis from Palo Alto, California.<\/p>\n For more information about the laser communications demo, visit:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Ian J. O\u2019Neill 2024-049\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-2649
ian.j.oneill@jpl.nasa.gov<\/p>\n