Space lasers might seem like something out of an eerie sci-fi movie, but NASA is using this
@NASA_Technology
to transmit more data at once!
More data = more discoveries.
#HappyHalloween
Our
@EuropaClipper
, Deep Space Optical Communications, and Advanced Composites Solar Sail System are named among the
#TIMEBestInventions
of 2024!
Learn more about how our work is helping build the future:
NASA's Low Cost Optical Terminal (LCOT)
@NASAGoddard
was built from modified commercial parts, showcasing a cost-effective option for laser comm ground terminals. LCOT successfully connected with the TBIRD payload before it concluded its mission. More:
📢 Calling all grad students!
@NASA_Technology
wants to sponsor your research ideas that have significant potential to contribute to
@NASA
’s goal of creating innovative new space technologies.
Learn more & apply by Nov. 1! 📅
Imagine making a field goal from 8 football fields away through 3-foot-wide uprights! 🏈
Recently,
@NASASCaN
's Low-Cost Optical Terminal (LCOT) made an equivalent connection over laser links!
Learn what it could mean for the future of laser comm:
It’s World Space Week!
Today’s students are tomorrow’s engineers, innovators, & space explorers. 🌍🚀
Learn more about laser communications with some of our fun
@NASASTEM
activities!
Proof we could one day relay data to and from Mars with lasers.
Almost a year since launch, the Deep Space Optical Communications experiment aboard
#MissionToPsyche
, passed a critical milestone – sending a signal from Mars orbit.
Get in, we’re going to the Moon!
@NASAArtemis
II will demonstrate laser comm from the Moon using the Orion Artemis II Optical Communications System – also known as O2O! O2O could transmit back high-def science data.
Learn more:
The
@NASASCaN
TBIRD demo completed its mission!
TBIRD spent the past two years showcasing the viability of laser comm and broke world records.
In 2023, TBIRD sent 4.8 terabytes of data in a single 5-min pass at 200 gigabits per second!
Learn more:
Did you know
@NASASCaN
is developing an optical ground terminal for Artemis II? The O2O terminal on
@NASAArtemis
II will demonstrate laser comm from the Moon!
Currently, one of O2O's ground stations is in development at
@NASAGoddard
's White Sands Complex in New Mexico.
Beam me up?
We're not quite sending people or animals as particles yet, but this summer, the
@NASALaserComm
Relay Demonstration used laser beams to send pictures of pets from Earth to the
@Space_Station
.
Happy Star Trek Day! 🖖
Pew Pew!
@NASA
's laser comm systems allow missions to send more data in a single link. More data means more discoveries.... about space and cats! 🐱 🌌
Want to learn more? Vote for our
#SXSW
panel:
Help us send space to
#SXSW
!
We're featuring our ongoing work to understand Earth, the distant universe, and everywhere in between. Follow
@NASAExhibit
to learn more—and vote for our panels by Friday, Aug. 16:
Looking to learn more about lasers? Check out these cool
@NASASTEM
activities for students from K to 12th grade! These fun-filled, standards-based activities can be done at home or in a classroom.
#BackToSchool
Laser communications systems go for the gold too! 🏅 Laser comm demonstrations TBIRD and DSOC have both broken world records.
TBIRD for the fastest data transfer over laser links at 200 Gbps, and DSOC for furthest laser link at 140 million miles away!
#Olympics