For the first time using laser communications, NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland successfully streamed 4K video from an aircraft to the International Space Station ( ISS) and back. This success is one of a number of research studies that may allow for live video surveillance of astronauts while Artemis missions to the Moon, according to NASA.
Usually, Nasa has used stereo waves for space connections. However, laser contacts employ infrared light, allowing for data transfer that is 10 to 100 times faster than radio frequency methods.
A portable laser terminal was installed on a Pilatus PC-12 aircraft in collaboration with the Air Force Research Laboratory and Nasa’s Small Business Innovation Research program. They flew over Lake Erie, passing through a ground station in Cleveland with the data they were transmitting. The data was then sent via an Earth-based network to the White Sands Test Facility of New Mexico by infrared light, which was used to transmit the data.
The signals travelled an impressive 22, 000 miles to reach Nasa’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD), which then relayed them to the ILLUMA-T on the ISS, and finally back to Earth. The High-Rate Delay Tolerant Networking ( HDTN) system, developed at NASA’s Glenn Research Centre, played a crucial role in enabling the signal to penetrate cloud coverage effectively.
” These experiments are a tremendous accomplishment”, said Dr Daniel Raible, principal investigator for the HDTN project at Glenn. ” We can now build upon the success of streaming 4K HD videos to and from the space station to provide future capabilities, like HD videoconferencing, for our Artemis astronauts, which will be important for crew health and activity coordination”, Glenn added.
The team made continual improvements to their technology’s performance through a number of flight tests, acknowledging that testing space technology in aeronautics is frequently more cost-effective and effective than ground testing. For moving new technology from the lab to the production line, it is crucial to demonstrate success in a simulated space environment.
These missions were a part of a Nasa initiative to stream high-bandwidth space data to support upcoming human missions beyond low Earth orbit. The agency’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN ) program embraces laser communications as a means of sending large amounts of data back to Earth as it develops advanced science instruments to capture high-definition data on the Moon and beyond.
Researchers will continue testing 4K video streaming capabilities from the PC-12 aircraft through the end of July despite the ILLUMA-T payload no longer being installed on the ISS. Through the Artemis missions, the ultimate goal is to develop the technologies that will enable humankind’s return to the moon’s surface.
