NASA researchers have successfully tested laser communications in space, transmitting 4K video footage from an aircraft in the sky to the International Space Station and back.
This achievement demonstrates that the space agency could provide live coverage of moon landings during the Artemis missions and is a positive sign for the advancement of optical communications, which could connect humans to Mars and beyond.
NASA typically uses radio waves to send and receive data from space, but the agency notes that laser communications using infrared light can transmit data 10 to 100 times faster than radio.
Engineers installed a portable laser terminal on an aircraft, which flew over Lake Erie and sent data to a center in Cleveland.
The data was then relayed to NASA’s New Mexico facility, where scientists sent it to the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) 22,000 miles away.
The LCRD then forwarded the message to the International Space Station via the ILLUMA-T system.