NASA | Laser Comm: The Next Generation of Space Communications

[TheJatmikoo]

I like It

[Tigorfc]

Good Video I like It

[roidroid]

A big part of the tech is essentially being able to aim and fire a powerful laser at a small target, through space, from a long distance away.

This tech could very VERY easily be weaponized. But such is the case with any powerful tech though, not much you can do about that *shrug*. I mean cars are pretty dangerous, and so are planes (eg: World Trade Center).

[MoreYummy]

they might use invisible laser

[1mirzo1]

Coolllll xD

[dmmaass1]

No its to allow better communication with the alien life they've lied to us about for years.

[vipkid56]

ok, now lets colonize Mars...

[gordon1201]

Nice! Will this allow for faster communication with rovers or manned spacecraft for example, on a trip to mars?

[MrChrisRab]

Interesting concept. As Alphasys pointed out, anything may block light in the near visible frequency. Especially gases (e.g. atmospheres). However, it will enable potential fiber optic datarates, as long as the receiver and emitter point exactly to each other.

[OrgasmandTea]

I thought for a second it would say 'the future's bright, the future's orange' and then I facepalmed.

[xxwillxx13]

Hope they use really strong lights or a very good detector!

[Alphasys]

@xxwillxx13 The L and A in LAser stand for Light and Amplification. So yes, strong lights. The only problem with this is really its small margin for error in direction due to its inherent narrow beam. Well, and ofcourse the fact that light will be stopped by anything in the "line of sight" where radio waves would just go around or even through the object in the path.

[kowalityjesus]

@Alphasys yeah, wouldn't clouds pose a problem?? I can envision a time where all sorts of red lines are crossing the contrails in the sky.

[Alphasys]

@kowalityjesus How very stereotypical you think of red. Lasers can be of any color, more than you can even see. I'd suspect they'll go towards the blue end of the spectrum though, since it bends less in the atmosphere and won't be stopped by it as easily as red. You won't see many lines in the sky though, since all inter-satellite comms will be above the atmosphere and there won't be any scattering of the beams to see.

[kowalityjesus]

@Alphasys I am not offended by your stereotyping me, although that was my initial reaction. inter-space communications would be an ideal application since there is virtually no matter, but I think satellites are intended to transfer data to earth, in which case they will be passing through clouds, which seems pretty hard for a laser to accomplish. I do not doubt that NASA has thought of this, but HOW would this NOT pose a problem?

[Shift4chizzle]

@Alphasys unless the stuff in "its line of sight" is meta materials

[Alphasys]

@Shift4chizzle I doubt you'll find much of that in space. And although meta materials work relatively well for radio and microwave signals, I've yet to see it work for light. We'd all love invisibility cloaks, right?

[Shift4chizzle]

@Alphasys they already made it work for light a long time ago, i was just being a smart ass lol nvm me

[subh1]

@Alphasys But can't we have lasers out of EM waves in the infrared and radio frequencies? Then at least many more objects on the path of communication will be "transparent" to the laser.

[Alphasys]

@subh1 The longer the wavelength, the less information you can send over it. Infrared will work in space, but the atmosphere blocks a lot of it. If you're going for longer wavelengths, you'd end up with a MASER, not a LASER. I suspect they'll go towards the blue end of the spectrum, possibly even ultraviolet. This will yield the most bandwidth. (Think Blue-ray instead of DVD.)

[jasleil]

Looks like NASA is up to something new. I wonder how that woul work in the future.

[fegolem]

Subspace? Not yet?