SpaceX FH - Psyche - LC-39A

[scaesare]

Really spectacular launch. SpaceX is now doing staggered landings on the two boosters. I'm sure there is a good reason for it. My guess is that they want to avoid the atmospheric interaction effects between the boosters.

I also wonder if not having simultaneous sonic booms lessens the "noise pollution" impact on the ground...

 

[JB47394]

NASA’s Optical Comms Demo Transmits Data Over 140 Million Miles - NASA

NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications experiment also interfaced with the Psyche spacecraft’s communication system for the first time, transmitting

www.nasa.gov

NASA’s optical communications demonstration has shown that it can transmit test data at a maximum rate of 267 megabits per second (Mbps) from the flight laser transceiver’s near-infrared downlink laser — a bit rate comparable to broadband internet download speeds.

That was achieved on Dec. 11, 2023, when the experiment beamed a 15-second ultra-high-definition video to Earth from 19 million miles away (31 million kilometers, or about 80 times the Earth-Moon distance). The video, along with other test data, including digital versions of Arizona State University’s Psyche Inspired artwork, had been loaded onto the flight laser transceiver before Psyche launched last year.

Now that the spacecraft is more than seven times farther away, the rate at which it can send and receive data is reduced, as expected. During the April 8 test, the spacecraft transmitted test data at a maximum rate of 25 Mbps, which far surpasses the project’s goal of proving at least 1 Mbps was possible at that distance.

 

[Cosmacelf]

That's great. 10x to 100x more bandwidth than radio. Currently the only stations are on earth, so weather is a real issue when sending/receiving via optical. In the future, I'd expect they would send/receive to a Lagrange point and relay back to earth. That would also boost bandwidth.

 

[scaesare]

NASA’s Optical Comms Demo Transmits Data Over 140 Million Miles - NASA

NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications experiment also interfaced with the Psyche spacecraft’s communication system for the first time, transmitting

www.nasa.gov

C'mon @JB47394 , if you're going to provide article quotes, please try to at least include the critical ones that matter:

After Psyche launched, the optical communications demo was initially used to downlink pre-loaded data, including the Taters the cat video.

More on this fascinating subject:

(paging @Krugerrand )

 

[JB47394]

C'mon @JB47394 , if you're going to provide article quotes, please try to at least include the critical ones that matter:

That's old news. The cat video was part of the early testing. I thought we talked about that, but I can't find a mention of it now.

 

[scaesare]

That's old news. The cat video was part of the early testing. I thought we talked about that, but I can't find a mention of it now.

I don't recall discussion of this importance... cats AND space lasers!

 

[Krugerrand]

(paging @Krugerrand )

As with the human species, not all of the feline species is particularly intelligent.