Mysterious Laser Beams Hit Earth from 140 Million Miles Away

The asteroid named Psyche is located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. A robotic explorer, also named Psyche, was sent to this asteroid with the additional mission of testing laser communications.

Equipped with the Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) system, Psyche aims to enable laser communication across vast distances in space, providing faster connections than current methods. While primarily using radio frequency communication, the optical communications technology on Psyche has demonstrated its capability.

In a notable achievement, the laser communications demo successfully transmitted engineering data from over 140 million miles away, showcasing its potential for long-distance communication. The DSOC also interfaced with Psyche’s radio transmitter, enabling it to directly transmit information and engineering data back to Earth.

The project’s operations lead at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Meera Srinivasan, confirmed the successful downlink of duplicated spacecraft data via laser communications during a pass on April 8. This test aimed to assess the effectiveness of laser communications compared to traditional methods, proving that laser communications can perform as effectively, if not better, than radio-frequency communications.

NASA’s optical communications demonstration has shown that test data can be transmitted at a maximum rate of 267 Mbps using the flight laser transceiver’s near-infrared downlink laser, comparable to broadband internet speeds. The spacecraft successfully transmitted test data at a maximum rate of 25 Mbps during a test on April 8, exceeding the project’s goal of proving at least 1 Mbps was achievable at that distance.

As Psyche makes its way towards the Psyche 16 asteroid between Mars and Jupiter, it is reported to be stable and healthy.