There is something incredible that I recently came across about NASA’s Psyche mission! Can you believe it, a strange signal from far off space received by NASA? It was emitted from the spacecraft called Psyche lying at around 140 million miles in outer space! This can make someone go mad.
A year ago, NASA launched the Psyche spacecraft to study an asteroid named Psyche 16. What makes this asteroid so special is that it is composed mostly of metal, which is rare for objects in our solar system. It lies between Mars and Jupiter in the area known as the asteroid belt.
The name of the spacecraft matches with the name of the asteroid it is supposed to find out more about. Yet there are other things it does. Besides, it also controls a fascinating process referred as Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC). To put it simply, this method allows lasers instead of radio waves to be used for communication between spacecraft and Earth. And guess what? It worked.
Using lasers, the Psyche orbiter transmitted data back to Earth, and the outcome was a big triumph. “We were able to send approximately ten minutes of data using lasers,” said Meera Srinivasan from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Instead, they opted for lasers as opposed to radio waves, which are the typical means for this.
Lasers are faster than radio waves and that is what makes them so great. In other words, it’s like comparing dial-up internet connection with a super-fast broadband one. Therefore in case you need to talk to a spacecraft several million miles away from you, then you can’t afford not to have laser transmission technology on board.
They sent the data at 267 megabits per second. Almost as fast as my home internet! However, the speed is a bit slower because the spacecraft is so far away. Still, it’s really an impressive thing.
I feel that this is a tremendous step towards space exploration. We can learn more about the universe if we are able to communicate with space crafts faster than before. The possibility of discovering even more things using this new technology cannot be ignored.
I am super excited for what NASA will discover from this Psyche mission. They might uncover even more fascinating things about asteroids or they could use this method in future to talk to other spaceships. It does not matter anyway; it is still a major leap in space exploration and I cannot wait to see how it goes down next time.
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