NASA is taking an action towards the next period of space interactions with the launch of its Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) on Sunday, December 5. Later in mission, LCRD will get and send information from an optical terminal that NASA will place on the International Space Station.
LCRD is led by NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. LCRD is funded through NASAs Technology Demonstration Missions program as part of the Space Technology Mission Directorate, and the Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
Illustration of NASAs Laser Communications Relay Demonstration communicating with the International Space Station over laser links. Credit: NASAs Goddard Space Flight
NASA is taking an action towards the next period of space communications with the launch of its Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) on Sunday, December 5. The agencys very first end-to-end laser relay system, LCRD is set to launch as part of the United States Space Force Space Systems Commands Space Test Program 3 (STP-3) mission. LCRD communicating information from the space station to Earth.
6 Things You Need To Know About NASAs Revolutionary Laser Communications Mission
Dive Deep into Laser Communications
Take a within appearance into the development of LCRD with a laser communications show from NASA EDGE.
NASAs The Invisible Network podcast will debut an unique LCRD series on launch day, with additional episodes released over the following 4 Wednesdays. The podcast will highlight the future of the laser communications technologies demonstrated by this objective and the people behind it.
NASAs LCRD is introducing aboard the Department of Defenses Space Test Program Satellite-6 (STPSat-6), which belongs to the Space Test Program 3 objective. An extra NASA science payload likewise will introduce aboard STPSat-6: UVSC Pathfinder, the Ultraviolet Spectro-Coronagraph Pathfinder. The mission is a joint NASA-U.S. Naval Research Laboratory experiment that studies the origins of solar energetic particles, the Suns many unsafe form of radiation.
LCRD is led by NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Partners consist of NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and the MIT Lincoln Laboratory. LCRD is funded through NASAs Technology Demonstration Missions program as part of the Space Technology Mission Directorate, and the Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
Laser interactions– also called optical interactions since they use light to send details– provide greater information rates than traditional radio frequency systems, allowing more information to be sent with each transmission. LCRD will show space-to-ground laser interactions linking ground stations in Hawaii and California. Later in objective, LCRD will receive and transfer data from an optical terminal that NASA will put on the International Space Station.
Public Participation
NASA welcomes the public to sign up to virtually attend the launch and get mission updates and activities by means of e-mail. NASAs virtual guest program for LCRD consists of curated launch resources, notices about related opportunities, and a virtual guest passport stamp.
