NASA laser message beams video of cat named Taters back to Earth, and it바카라 게임 웹사이트s a big deal
A laser communications experiment flying aboard NASA바카라 게임 웹사이트s Psyche mission has beamed back a video to Earth from nearly 19 million miles away 바카라 게임 웹사이트 and the short clip stars a cat named Taters. It바카라 게임 웹사이트s the first time NASA has streamed a video from deep space using a laser.
Watch the video in the player above.
In the , the playful orange tabby cat chases, of all things, the elusive red dot from a laser pointer as it moves across a couch.
The cat video was transmitted to Earth from a flight laser transceiver as part of the Deep Space Optical Communications experiment, or DSOC. The technology could one day be used to quickly transmit data, imagery and videos as humans push the limits of space exploration by venturing to places like Mars.
The 15-second video was encoded in a near-infrared laser and beamed from the Psyche spacecraft to the Hale Telescope at the California Institute of Technology바카라 게임 웹사이트s Palomar Observatory. The video was downloaded at the observatory on Dec. 11, and each frame was streamed live at NASA바카라 게임 웹사이트s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
At the time of the transmission, the distance between the Psyche spacecraft and Hale was 80 times the distance between Earth and the moon. It only took 101 seconds for the laser to each Earth.
The laser can send data at 10 to 100 times the speed of traditional radio wave systems NASA uses on other missions. The tech demo was designed to be NASA바카라 게임 웹사이트s most distant experiment of high-bandwidth laser communications, testing the sending and receiving of data to and from Earth using an invisible near-infrared laser.
바카라 게임 웹사이트This accomplishment underscores our commitment to advancing optical communications as a key element to meeting our future data transmission needs,바카라 게임 웹사이트 NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy said in a statement. 바카라 게임 웹사이트Increasing our bandwidth is essential to achieving our future exploration and science goals, and we look forward to the continued advancement of this technology and the transformation of how we communicate during future interplanetary missions.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Laser communications in deep space
Launched in mid-October, the Psyche mission is currently en route to catch humanity바카라 게임 웹사이트s first glimpse of a metal asteroid between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The spacecraft will spend the next six years traveling about 2.2 billion miles to reach its namesake, located in the outer part of the main asteroid belt.
But the Deep Space Optical Communications experiment is carrying out a mission of its own during the first two years of the journey.
바카라 게임 웹사이트One of the goals is to demonstrate the ability to transmit broadband video across millions of miles. Nothing on Psyche generates video data, so we usually send packets of randomly generated test data,바카라 게임 웹사이트 said Bill Klipstein, DSOC project manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in a statement.
바카라 게임 웹사이트But to make this significant event more memorable, we decided to work with designers at JPL to create a fun video, which captures the essence of the demo as part of the Psyche mission.바카라 게임 웹사이트
바카라 게임 웹사이트Everyone loves Taters바카라 게임 웹사이트
The DSOC team collaborated with the creators at JPL바카라 게임 웹사이트s in-house DesignLab when determining which video they wanted to test across deep space.
The video, which was uploaded to DSOC before the Psyche launch, also includes a graphics overlay that showcases Psyche바카라 게임 웹사이트s orbital path, the Palomar telescope dome and Taters바카라 게임 웹사이트 color, breed and heart rate.
바카라 게임 웹사이트Despite transmitting from millions of miles away, it was able to send the video faster than most broadband internet connections,바카라 게임 웹사이트 said Ryan Rogalin, DSOC receiver electronics lead at JPL, in a statement.
바카라 게임 웹사이트In fact, after receiving the video at Palomar, it was sent to JPL over the internet, and that connection was slower than the signal coming from deep space. JPL바카라 게임 웹사이트s DesignLab did an amazing job helping us showcase this technology 바카라 게임 웹사이트 everyone loves Taters.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Apart from the broad popularity of cat videos and memes, the decision to include a cat video for DSOC바카라 게임 웹사이트s milestone is also a nod to broadcast history. A statuette of the Felix the Cat cartoon was used in television test broadcast transmissions beginning in 1928, according to NASA.
Major milestone
The laser experiment바카라 게임 웹사이트s latest successful test comes after DSOC바카라 게임 웹사이트s milestone on Nov. 14 achieving what engineers called 바카라 게임 웹사이트first light,바카라 게임 웹사이트 the feat of successfully sending and receiving its first data. Since then, the tech demo has only improved, showcasing capabilities like improved pointing accuracy that바카라 게임 웹사이트s so essential when sending laser messages from space to Earth.
The laser바카라 게임 웹사이트s fast data downlink speeds are comparable to broadband internet, and the DSOC team recently downloaded 1.3 terabits of data in one evening 바카라 게임 웹사이트 comparable to the 1.2 terabits sent back by NASA바카라 게임 웹사이트s Magellan mission to Venus over the course of four years in the 1990s.
바카라 게임 웹사이트When we achieved first light, we were excited, but also cautious. This is a new technology, and we are experimenting with how it works,바카라 게임 웹사이트 said Ken Andrews, project flight operations lead at JPL, in a statement. 바카라 게임 웹사이트But now, with the help of our Psyche colleagues, we are getting used to working with the system and can lock onto the spacecraft and ground terminals for longer than we could previously. We are learning something new during each checkout.바카라 게임 웹사이트