NASA tests laser communications system – and sends cat video to Earth from space US forms alliance to protect ships – the night update without images

The American space agency NASA has tested an advanced laser communication system with a cat video from space. The 15-second video of a NASA employee’s cat was sent to Earth with a laser from a space probe on Monday.

According to the nose, the probe is currently 31 million kilometers away from our planet. The high-resolution video shows the orange tabby cat named Taters chasing a laser point, was stored on the Psyche probe before launch.

Psyche is on its way to the asteroid of the same name, which is 3.6 billion kilometers from Earth and located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The probe is expected to reach it in 2029.

Better than random test data

During its flight through space, NASA used the probe to test its new laser communications system. The transmitted data was received by the Hale Telescope in the US state of California and forwarded to NASA’s JPL jet propulsion laboratory. It took 101 seconds for the video to reach Earth.

NASA wanted to test the transmission of high data rates via laser over long distances, which is important for complex missions such as the planned manned Mars missions. Of course, cat videos aren’t necessary for missions like this. “We normally send packets of randomly generated test data,” says JPL expert Bill Klipstein. To make the experiment “even more memorable”, an “entertaining video” has now been made and broadcast for the first time.

Space missions traditionally use radio communications to send and receive data. However, laser communications enable data speeds that are ten to a hundred times faster. The cat video was sent at a data rate of up to 267 megabits per second – faster than most broadband internet access on Earth. (saw/sda/afp)