© 2024 New Atlas
Space

LADEE sets data transmission record from lunar orbit

By David Szondy
October 23, 2013
LADEE sets data transmission record from lunar orbit
Artist's concept of LADEE entering lunar orbit (Image: NASA)
Artist's concept of LADEE entering lunar orbit (Image: NASA)
View 23 Images
Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration's (LLCD) 3 modules integrated with the LADEE spacecraft (Image: NASA)
1/23
Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration's (LLCD) 3 modules integrated with the LADEE spacecraft (Image: NASA)
Artist's concept of LADEE (Image: NASA)
2/23
Artist's concept of LADEE (Image: NASA)
Artist's concept of LADEE entering lunar orbit (Image: NASA)
3/23
Artist's concept of LADEE entering lunar orbit (Image: NASA)
LADEE firing engines (Image: NASA)
4/23
LADEE firing engines (Image: NASA)
LADEE with LLCD space terminal (Image: NASA)
5/23
LADEE with LLCD space terminal (Image: NASA)
LADEE with LLCD space terminal being tested (Image: NASA)
6/23
LADEE with LLCD space terminal being tested (Image: NASA)
LLCD’s Controller Electronics Module (Image: NASA)
7/23
LLCD’s Controller Electronics Module (Image: NASA)
NASA/JPL Lunar Lasercom OCTL Terminal (LLOT) for the LLLCD (Image: NASA)
8/23
NASA/JPL Lunar Lasercom OCTL Terminal (LLOT) for the LLLCD (Image: NASA)
Rendering of LADEE (Image: NASA)
9/23
Rendering of LADEE (Image: NASA)
LLCD Modem Module is installed onto the LADEE spacecraft (Image: MIT/LL)
10/23
LLCD Modem Module is installed onto the LADEE spacecraft (Image: MIT/LL)
LLST Optical Module installed (Image: NASA)
11/23
LLST Optical Module installed (Image: NASA)
Lunar Lasercomm Ground Terminal (Image: Robert LaFon/NASA)
12/23
Lunar Lasercomm Ground Terminal (Image: Robert LaFon/NASA)
Optical Ground Terminal for space laaser communications (Image: NASA)
13/23
Optical Ground Terminal for space laaser communications (Image: NASA)
Lunar Lasercomm Ground Terminal in New Mexico (Image: Robert LaFon/NASA)
14/23
Lunar Lasercomm Ground Terminal in New Mexico (Image: Robert LaFon/NASA)
LLGT closed clam shell (Image: Robert LaFon/NASA)
15/23
LLGT closed clam shell (Image: Robert LaFon/NASA)
LLGT open clam shell (Image: Robert LaFon/NASA)
16/23
LLGT open clam shell (Image: Robert LaFon/NASA)
LLGT open clam shell (Image: Robert LaFon/NASA)
17/23
LLGT open clam shell (Image: Robert LaFon/NASA)
LLGT Installation at White Sands, New Mexico (Image: Robert LaFon NASA/GSFC)
18/23
LLGT Installation at White Sands, New Mexico (Image: Robert LaFon NASA/GSFC)
LLST Optical Test; (Image: MIT/LL)
19/23
LLST Optical Test; (Image: MIT/LL)
MIT Team with LADEE (Image: MIT/LL)
20/23
MIT Team with LADEE (Image: MIT/LL)
Modem Module for LLCD (Image: NASA)
21/23
Modem Module for LLCD (Image: NASA)
ESA's Optical Ground Station for LLCD (Image: ESA)
22/23
ESA's Optical Ground Station for LLCD (Image: ESA)
LLCD optical module (Image: NASA)
23/23
LLCD optical module (Image: NASA)
View gallery - 23 images

NASA’s Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration (LLCD) experiment made history yesterday as it beamed data back to Earth from lunar orbit at previously unheard of speed for a space mission. Operating from the LADEE lunar orbiter, the LLCD used lasers to transmit data to Earth at 622 megabits per second (Mbps) as a demonstration of a technology that NASA hopes will one day not only keep up with the communications demands of future missions, but also greatly enhance their capabilities.

Space exploration is dealing with an increasingly difficult bottleneck when it comes to communications. Up until now, NASA and other space agencies have relied on radio frequency (RF) communications, which have worked well, but have only limited bandwidth.

Over the years, the demands for greater data bandwidth have grown and RF is reaching its practical limits, but lasers have a much greater bandwidth capacity and their ability to produce a narrow, coherent beam means that they use less power over longer distances – a prime concern for spacecraft that often have to make do with power levels usually associated with incandescent bulbs.

LLCD optical module (Image: NASA)
LLCD optical module (Image: NASA)

The LLCD transmitted the record-breaking download across a quarter of a million miles using a pulsed laser beam picked up by the main LLCD ground station in New Mexico, which is one of three set up in the United States and Spain. In addition to the 622 Mbps download, LADEE also received an upload of data from Earth at a rate of 20 Mbps.

The LLCD is one of the experiment packages aboard NASA’s unmanned Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE), which was launched from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia on September 6 and went into orbit around the Moon on October 6 as part of a 100-day mission to study the almost non-existent lunar atmosphere and the presence of dust that may be kicked up from the lunar surface by solar activity.

According to NASA, lasers will not only allow communications technologies to keep up with demand, but may one day also allow for the transmission from space of images with greater resolution, 3D video from deep space, or even enable telepresence operation of surface rovers by orbiting crews..

NASA says that whereas the LLCD is a short-duration experiment, it paves the way for the long-duration demonstration Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) slated to launch in 2017.

The video below outlines the LLCD experiment

Source: NASA

NASA | LLCD Downloads the Future

View gallery - 23 images

Tags

SpaceNASAHistoryCommunicationsSpacecraftTransmissionMoonLaserRecord-breakingDataLADEE
3 comments
David Szondy
David Szondy
David Szondy is a playwright, author and journalist based in Seattle, Washington. A retired field archaeologist and university lecturer, he has a background in the history of science, technology, and medicine with a particular emphasis on aerospace, military, and cybernetic subjects. In addition, he is the author of four award-winning plays, a novel, reviews, and a plethora of scholarly works ranging from industrial archaeology to law. David has worked as a feature writer for many international magazines and has been a feature writer for New Atlas since 2011.

Most Viewed

Load More
3 comments
ahrzee
Sure they zipped random data around, but how about doing something classy like sending Van Gogh's starry night. Or even the Mona Lisa again!
Judge
This is MUCH more than it appears! Think Real Time Communication w/Mars/Rovers.
Uh,, that Europa mission anyone? Titan? . Solar system just became several magnitudes smaller
Jean D
I'm sorry Judge, but laser light travels at the same speed as radio waves, as they are of the same EM nature, laser waves just have a higher frequency, and nothing can travel faster than the speed of light, not even light itself.
Higher frequency though, means more oscillations per second and it's these oscillations that contain the data; still, you're unable to put more bits than there are oscillations to code them into. More oscillations per second = more bits transmitted per second. This is called bandwith. This is the only gain and it's not breaking the theory of relativity, nor travels any faster than radio. They just carry more data at the same speed.
It's much like having a 53 foot semi to transport your apple crop instead of a small Ford Focus, and while travelling, both vehicles must respect the speed limit. No matter how hard you try, it won't fit in the Focus, neva'.
Sending a Google request from Mars will still take at least 8 minutes, in the best of cases, before hoping to get the results, even with such a tiny amount of bits involved. What would change is your Youtube experience even though you still have, on average, half an hour between your click on a video link and the moment it starts, but it no longer buffers every 5 seconds or so and now plays smoothly!
Life on Mars just got bearable, if not ideal. ;)