Premium Only Content
NASA Terminal Transmits First Laser Communications Uplink to Space
NASA’s LCOT (Low-Cost Optical Terminal), a ground station made of modified commercial hardware, transmitted its first laser communications uplink to the TBIRD (TeraByte Infrared Delivery), a tissue box-sized payload formerly in low Earth orbit.
During the first live sky test, NASA’s LCOT produced enough uplink intensity for the TBIRD payload to identify the laser beacon, connect, and maintain a connection to the ground station for over three minutes. This successful test marks an important achievement for laser communications: connecting LCOT’s laser beacon from Earth to TBIRD required one milliradian of pointing accuracy, the equivalent of hitting a three-foot target from over eight American football fields away.
The test was one of many laser communications achievements TBIRD made possible during its successful, two-year mission. Prior to its mission completion on Sept. 15, 2024, the payload transmitted at a record-breaking 200 gigabits per second. In an actual use case, TBIRD’s three-minute connection time with LCOT would be sufficient to return over five terabytes of critical science data, the equivalent of over 2,500 hours of high-definition video in a single pass. As the LCOT sky test demonstrates, the ultra-high-speed capabilities of laser communications will allow science missions to maintain their connection to Earth as they travel farther than ever before.
-
LIVE
The Quartering
23 hours agoYule Log Christmas MAGA Edition With Memes! Come Hang Out!
1,593 watching -
38:41
MYLUNCHBREAK CHANNEL PAGE
1 day agoTimeline Begins in 1800? - Pt 1 & 2
42.6K33 -
1:23:41
Game On!
23 hours ago $9.53 earnedNetflix NFL Christmas Games Preview and Predictions!
56.6K9 -
2:05:07
Darkhorse Podcast
1 day agoWhy Trump Wants Greenland: The 257th Evolutionary Lens with Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying
289K458 -
8:50:58
Right Side Broadcasting Network
1 day ago🎅 LIVE: Tracking Santa on Christmas Eve 2024 NORAD Santa Tracker 🎅
341K49 -
2:48
Steven Crowder
1 day agoCROWDER CLASSICS: What’s This? | Nightmare Before Kwanzaa (Nightmare Before Christmas Parody)
316K12 -
33:49
Quite Frankly
1 day agoThe Christmas Eve Midnight Telethon
118K22 -
2:12:46
Price of Reason
1 day agoAmber Heard BACKS Blake Lively Lawsuit Against Justin Baldoni! Is Disney CEO Bob Iger in TROUBLE?
69.1K24 -
1:01:17
The StoneZONE with Roger Stone
20 hours agoChristmas Edition: Why the Panama Canal is Part of the America First Agenda | The StoneZONE
139K51 -
18:12:15
LFA TV
1 day agoLFA TV CHRISTMAS EVE REPLAY
150K19