Alien Laser Message Sent to Earth from 225 Million Kilometers Away
The Psyche spacecraft, currently en route to the main asteroid belt situated between Mars and Jupiter, has showcased cutting-edge Deep Space Optical Communications technology developed by scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.
Although the spacecraft primarily relies on radio frequency for communication, the successful demonstration of optical communications has shown its potential to revolutionize deep space communications. On April 8th, the optical communications demo efficiently transmitted engineering data from a distance of 140 million miles (226 million kilometers) – which is equivalent to one and a half times the distance between the Earth and the Sun.
NASA has hailed this achievement as a significant milestone that could pave the way for future missions to Mars. Traditionally, NASA has solely utilized radio waves for communication with missions that venture beyond Earth. However, the successful implementation of Deep Space Optical Communications technology on the Psyche spacecraft opens up new possibilities for enhancing communication capabilities in space exploration.
