Alt-week takes a look at the best science and alternative tech stories from the last seven days.
We're all about the launches this week, at both ends of the spectrum. At the small-scale, we see what happens when a pinewood derby gets the 3D printing treatment. At the other end, NASA's LADEE begins its voyage to the moon. This is alt-week.
NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) will soon bring a much-needed data link speed increase between satellites, spacecraft and Earth using laser beams, according to Nature. ESA will get the ball rolling on July 25th when it launches the Alphasat, which will communicate at 300 Mbps with the German Tandem-X satellite over an experimental optical communication terminal. NASA's LADEE Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (which launches September 5th) will take a different tack, however. That mission will communicate directly with the Earth all the way from the moon's orbit, thanks to an atmosphere-penetrating AM-style modulated infrared laser beam and eight ground telescopes. The use of lasers helps both missions avoid radio interference in space and on earth, while bringing six times greater speed from the moon than a radio-based system. Just to be on the safe side, though, NASA does have a backup radio link for LADEE -- as good as lasers are, they can't cut through a solid cloud layer.
Filed under: Science, Internet, Alt
Via: The Register
Source: Nature
NASA has just finish testing and integration of its first high-data-rate laser communications system for the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE). The Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration presents a significant upgrade in existing data communications used in space -- with an estimated increase of six times the throughput of the current best radio system. Unlike previous one-way demonstrations, the LCDD uses an infrared beam -- in the same way that many land-based fiber networks do -- that can be received on Earth by one of three telescopes located in Mexico, California or Spain. It's not just about upping the data rate, though, as other challenges include keeping that signal good through conditions your ISP (thankfully) won't normally have to consider, such as pin-point accuracy over 238,900 miles while moving through space. Going forward, the LLCD will play a vital part in NASA's 2017 Laser Communications Relay Demonstration, a key test of laser-based relay comms in future missions. Back here on Earth, however, we never thought we'd get bandwidth-envy this far out in the sticks.
Source: NASA