NASA’s Psyche spacecraft completed yet one more historic communications achievement lower than a month after efficiently firing its “first light” laser information transmission. On December 11, the onboard Deep Space Optical Communications array’s flight laser transceiver sent an “ultra-high definition” video clip roughly 19 million miles again to Earth—a brand new report not only for transmission, however for cat movies, as properly.
According to NASA’s December 18 announcement, Psyche sent an encoded near-infrared laser beam to Earth final week at its most bandwidth pace of 267 megabits per second (Mbps) whereas en path to the space probe’s closing vacation spot, a metal-heavy asteroid situated between Mars and Jupiter. Roughly 101 seconds later, researchers at Caltech’s Palomar Observatory obtained and downloaded the information bundle. The crew then sent every particular person video body over to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the place the clip performed in actual time. And then, a cat named Taters made space exploration historical past.
As NASA explains, the 15-second video clip’s important character is an ode to a few of the very first tv check broadcast transmissions. Beginning in 1928, many of those earliest airings included a tiny statue of well-liked cartoon character, Felix the Cat. In honor of cats’ lengthy lineage in telecommunications, Psyche’s temporary scene showcases a large orange tabby named Taters chasing a crimson laser pointer throughout a sofa whereas chilled out music performs in the background. Overlaid graphics additionally show details about the cute cat reminiscent of its coronary heart price, alongside extra pertinent undertaking data like Psyche’s orbital path, technical specs, and information bit price data.
[Related: NASA’s Psyche wins first deep space laser relay.]
Even throughout thousands and thousands of miles of space, the demonstration reportedly holds as much as a few of the greatest web obtain charges right here on Earth.
“Despite transmitting from millions of miles away, [Psyche] was able to send the video faster than most broadband internet connections,” Ryan Rogalin, JPL’s receiver electronics lead for the undertaking, defined on Monday. “In fact, after receiving the video at Palomar, it was sent to JPL over the internet, and that connection was slower than the signal coming from deep space.”
Thanks to this and future Psyche laser system testing, NASA plans to prepared astronauts’ communications arrays for longterm voyages to the moon and Mars.
“Increasing our bandwidth is essential to achieving our future exploration and science goals, and we look forward to the continued advancement of this technology and the transformation of how we communicate during future interplanetary missions,” NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy mentioned in the company’s December 18 announcement.
For now, nonetheless, Taters takes middle stage—though the video’s focus wasn’t solely a callback tv’s very first check broadcasts.
“Today, cat videos and memes are some of the most popular content online,” reads NASA’s announcement, including in its accompanying materials that, “Coincidentally, cats like to chase lasers.”