This year, NASA will send a technology demonstration called the LCRD Low Orbit Integrated User Modem and Amplifier Terminal (ILLUMA-T) to the International Space Station. Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD), launched in December 2021 Complete the first end-to-end two-way laser relay system.
Systems using invisible infrared light Laser communication They transmit and receive information at high data rates, which will allow missions to send more images and videos to Earth in a single transmission.
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“Laser communications provide more flexibility for missions and a faster way to get data from space,” Badri Younes, former NASA assistant SCaN program administrator, said in an agency statement.
“We are integrating this technology into near-Earth, lunar and deep space demonstrations.”
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In addition to high data transfer speeds, laser systems They are lighter and use less power, a major advantage when designing a spacecraft.
ILLUMA-T is about the size of a standard refrigerator and will be attached to the outer module of the space station for its LCRD function.
Currently, LCRD is demonstrating the benefits of a geosynchronous orbiting laser repeater 22,000 miles above Earth by transmitting between two ground stations and conducting experiments to refine NASA’s laser capabilities.
“Once ILLUMA-T arrives at the space station, the terminal will transmit high-resolution data, including images and video, to LCRD at a rate of 1.2 gigabits per second,” said ILLUMA-T Deputy Program Manager Matt Magsamen.
“Data will be transmitted from the LCRD to ground stations in Hawaii and California. This demonstration will show how laser communications can benefit low-Earth orbit missions,” he said.
ILLUMA-T will be launched as a payload on SpaceX’s Commercial Resupply Services Mission 29 for NASA.
Within two weeks of launch, ILLUMA-T will be removed from the Dragon spacecraft’s fuselage and installed in the station’s Japanese Test Module, also known as “kibo,” which means “trust” in Japanese.
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Following installation of the payload, the ILLUMA-T team will perform preliminary tests and on-orbit tests.
Once complete, the team will make a payload first light pass, a critical milestone in which the mission sends the first beam of laser light to the LCRD through its optical telescope.
Once the first light is reached, laser communications and data transfer tests will begin, which will continue throughout the planned mission.
In the future, operational laser communications will complement the radio frequency systems most space missions currently use to send data home.
While this isn’t the first mission to test laser communications in space, it brings NASA closer to implementing the technology.
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LAURA ALEJANDRA ALBARACAN RESTREPO
With information from NASA
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