PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Laser demonstration reveals bright future for space communication

2013-12-27
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Rob Gutro
Robert.j.gutro@nasa.gov
301-286-4044
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Laser demonstration reveals bright future for space communication

The completion of the 30-day Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration or LLCD mission has revealed that the possibility of expanding broadband capabilities in space using laser communications is as bright as expected.

Hosted aboard the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer known as LADEE, for its ride to lunar orbit, the LLCD was designed to confirm laser communication capabilities from a distance of almost a quarter-of-a-million miles. In addition to demonstrating record-breaking data download and upload speeds to the moon at 622 megabits per second (Mbps) and 20 Mbps, respectively, LLCD also showed that it could operate as well as any NASA radio system. "Throughout our testing we did not see anything that would prevent the operational use of this technology in the immediate future," said Don Cornwell, LLCD mission manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

For example, LLCD demonstrated error-free communications during broad daylight, including operating when the moon was to within three degrees of the sun as seen from Earth. LLCD also demonstrated error-free communications when the moon was low on the horizon, less than 4 degrees, as seen from the ground station, which also demonstrated that wind and atmospheric turbulence did not significantly impact the system. LLCD was even able to communicate through thin clouds, an unexpected bonus.

Operationally, LLCD demonstrated the ability to download data from the LADEE spacecraft itself. "We were able to download LADEE's entire stored science and spacecraft data [1 gigabyte] in less than five minutes, which was only limited to our 40 Mbps connection to that data within LADEE" said Cornwell. Using LADEE's onboard radio system would take several days to complete a download of the same stored data. Additionally, LLCD was to prove the integrity of laser technology to send not only error-free data but also uncorrupted commands and telemetry or monitoring messages to and from the spacecraft over the laser link.

LLCD also demonstrated the ability to "hand-off" the laser connection from one ground station to another, just as a cellphone does a hand-off from one cell tower to another. An additional achievement was the ability to operate LLCD without using LADEE's radio at all. "We were able to program LADEE to awaken the LLCD space terminal and have it automatically point and communicate to the ground station at a specific time without radio commands. This demonstrates that this technology could serve as the primary communications system for future NASA missions," said Cornwell.

The ability of LLCD to send and receive high definition video was proven with a message from NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, completing the trip to the moon and back with only a few seconds of delay. "Administrator Bolden's message demonstrates NASA's support for advancing this technology for both space and Earth applications," said Cornwell. "It also allowed the LLCD team to showcase the quality and fidelity of our HD video transmissions over our laser communication link to and from the moon."

Cornwell acknowledged that the LLCD mission is another great example of NASA partnerships with outside organizations to advance unproven technologies. He credits the work of Don Boroson and his team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory (MIT/LL) in Lexington, Mass., for developing and operating both the space and ground laser communications terminals for LLCD. "We could not have made such great strides without the work of our partners at MIT/LL," Cornwell said. "Their years of work and knowledge produced a communications system that far exceeded our expectation."

NASA's follow-on mission for laser communications will be the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LRCD). Also managed at Goddard, LCRD will demonstrate continuous laser relay communication capabilities at over one billion bits per second between two Earth stations using a satellite in geosynchronous orbit. The system also will support communications with Earth-orbiting satellites. More importantly, LCRD will demonstrate this operational capability for as long as five years, thus building more confidence in the reliability of this laser technology.

"We are very encouraged by the results of LLCD," said Badri Younes, NASA's deputy associate administrator for Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) in Washington, which sponsored the mission. "From where I sit, the future looks very bright for laser communications."

So it appears NASA could be making the next paradigm shift in communications in the not too distant future. The same technology that has vastly upgraded our broadband connections on Earth could be expanding communications possibilities for NASA in the not-too-distant future.



INFORMATION:



For more information about LLCD, visit:

http://llcd.gsfc.nasa.gov

For more information about the LADEE mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ladee

For more information about LCRD, visit:

http://esc.gsfc.nasa.gov/267/LCRD.html

For more information about SCaN, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/scan



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Enormous aquifer discovered under Greenland ice sheet

2013-12-27
Enormous aquifer discovered under Greenland ice sheet Buried underneath compacted snow and ice in Greenland lies a large liquid water reservoir that has now been mapped by researchers using data from NASA's Operation IceBridge airborne campaign. A team ...

Study faults a 'runaway' mechanism in intermediate-depth earthquakes

2013-12-27
Study faults a 'runaway' mechanism in intermediate-depth earthquakes Researchers find immense heating at high pressures helps spread intermediate-depth quakes Nearly 25 percent of earthquakes occur more than 50 kilometers below the Earth's surface, when ...

New approach to vertex connectivity could maximize networks' bandwidth

2013-12-27
New approach to vertex connectivity could maximize networks' bandwidth Technique advances understanding of a basic concept in graph theory, paralleling advances in edge connectivity Computer scientists are constantly searching for ways to squeeze ever more ...

Genetic clue to fighting new strains of flu

2013-12-27
Genetic clue to fighting new strains of flu Published in the Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, senior author, Associate Professor Katherine Kedzierska from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology said that being able to predict ...

A magnetic nanoparticles-based method for DNA extraction from the saliva after stroke

2013-12-27
A magnetic nanoparticles-based method for DNA extraction from the saliva after stroke C677T polymorphism in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene is a risk factor for stroke. Studies have report a higher C677T homozygosity frequency in Chinese than ...

Combination of cell transplantation and gene therapy for Alzheimer's disease

2013-12-27
Combination of cell transplantation and gene therapy for Alzheimer's disease In a recent study published in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 8, No. 33, 2013), Prof. Feng Li and team from Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University in China, synthesized ...

Radiotherapy is less often used by breast cancer patients with young children

2013-12-27
Radiotherapy is less often used by breast cancer patients with young children Radiotherapy (RT) after breast conserving surgery (BCS) has been shown to reduce the risk of breast cancer (BC) recurrence. However, although younger women tend ...

Widely-used anti-inflammatory drug shows success in treatment of amyloidosis

2013-12-27
Widely-used anti-inflammatory drug shows success in treatment of amyloidosis (Boston) – A recent study led by researchers from the Amyloidosis Center at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) demonstrates that ...

Multi-component therapy shown beneficial in treating PTSD in adolescent girls

2013-12-27
Multi-component therapy shown beneficial in treating PTSD in adolescent girls Adolescents girls with sexual abuse-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) experienced greater benefit from prolonged exposure therapy (a type of therapy that has been ...

Adding cognitive behavioral therapy to treatment of pediatric migraine improves relief of symptoms

2013-12-27
Adding cognitive behavioral therapy to treatment of pediatric migraine improves relief of symptoms Among children and adolescents with chronic migraine, the use of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) resulted in greater reductions in headache frequency and migraine-related ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Thirty-year mystery of dissonance in the “ringing” of black holes explained

Less intensive works best for agricultural soil

Arctic rivers project receives “national champion” designation from frontiers foundation

Computational biology paves the way for new ALS tests

Study offers new hope for babies born with opioid withdrawal syndrome

UT, Volkswagen Group of America celebrate research partnership

New Medicare program could dramatically improve affordability for cancer drugs – if patients enroll

Are ‘zombie’ skin cells harmful or helpful? The answer may be in their shapes

University of Cincinnati Cancer Center presents research at AACR 2025

Head and neck, breast, lung and survivorship studies headline Dana-Farber research at AACR Annual Meeting 2025

AACR: Researchers share promising results from MD Anderson clinical trials

New research explains why our waistlines expand in middle age

Advancements in muon detection: Taishan Antineutrino Observatory's innovative top veto tracker

Chips off the old block

Microvascular decompression combined with nerve combing for atypical trigeminal neuralgia

Cutting the complexity from digital carpentry

Lung immune cell type “quietly” controls inflammation in COVID-19

Fiscal impact of expanded Medicare coverage for GLP-1 receptor agonists to treat obesity

State and sociodemographic trends in US cigarette smoking with future projections

Young adults drive historic decline in smoking

NFCR congratulates Dr. Robert C. Bast, Jr. on receiving the AACR-Daniel D. Von Hoff Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education and Training in Cancer Research

Chimpanzee stem cells offer new insights into early embryonic development

This injected protein-like polymer helps tissues heal after a heart attack

FlexTech inaugural issue launches, pioneering interdisciplinary innovation in flexible technology

In Down syndrome mice, 40Hz light and sound improve cognition, neurogenesis, connectivity

Methyl eugenol: potential to inhibit oxidative stress, address related diseases, and its toxicological effects

A vascularized multilayer chip reveals shear stress-induced angiogenesis in diverse fluid conditions

AI helps unravel a cause of Alzheimer's disease and identify a therapeutic candidate

Coalition of Autism Scientists critiques US Department of Health and Human Services Autism Research Initiative

Structure dictates effectiveness, safety in nanomedicine

[Press-News.org] Laser demonstration reveals bright future for space communication