Future generations would probably want a broadband connection to communicate with home bases back on Earth if they were to live and work on the moon or a far-off asteroid. They might even want to watch their preferred TV program on Earth.
That might now be feasible thanks to a group of scientists from MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory who, working with NASA last fall, proved for the first time that a data communication technology exists that can give space residents the connectivity we all enjoy here on Earth, enabling large data transfers and even high-definition video streaming.
The team will present new information and the first thorough overview of the on-orbit performance of their record-breaking laser-based communication uplink between the moon and Earth at CLEO: 2014, which runs from June 8–13 in San Jose, California, USA. Last fall, the team broke the previous record transmission speed by a factor of 4,800. In earlier reports, the team’s accomplishments were listed, but the specifics of how they were implemented were not included.
This will be the first time, according to Mark Stevens of the MIT Lincoln Laboratory, “that we present both the implementation overview and how well it actually worked.” According to Stevens, “the on-orbit performance was excellent and very close to what we had predicted, giving us confidence that we have a good understanding of the underlying physics.”
The team created history last year when their Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration (LLCD) downloaded data at a rate of 622 megabits per second, outpacing any radio frequency (RF) system over the 384,633 km distance between the moon and Earth. Additionally, they sent data to the moon at a rate of 19.44 megabits per second, which is 4,800 times faster than the best RF uplink ever employed.
