Hommam Al Nassim 
Earth received a laser signal from a whopping distance of 226 million kilometers through NASA’s “Psyche” mission.
The signal reached Earth from the spacecraft, which aims to explore the asteroid “Psyche-16”, known for its unique mineral composition.
The spacecraft is equipped with a Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) transceiver that allows communication over vast interplanetary distances, bypassing traditional methods of radiocommunications.
This laser message comes as part of NASA’s mission to test and enhance space communication capabilities and aims to provide faster and more efficient data compared to current methods.
In December 2023, “Psyche” successfully transmitted data at 267 megabits per second during its initial tests 19 million miles away.
In a later test in April, it was able to transmit data at 25 megabits per second at 140 million miles, exceeding the target set of sending at least 1 megabits per second.
The Deep Space Optical Communications technology demonstration used laser communications to transmit data 140 million miles or 1½ times the distance between Earth and the Sun. 🌍 🔄 ☀️
Read more about this record-breaking achievement –> https://t.co/ellM8XKoqc
— NASA Marshall (@NASA_Marshall) April 26, 2024
Mira Srinivasan, Project Operations Leader at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, emphasized the significance of this achievement, noting that it represents a step towards enhancing our deep-space communication capabilities and supporting future exploration missions.
The probe launched on October 13, 2023, and the spacecraft will arrive at the asteroid in the summer of 2029.
The asteroid “Psyche” is located in the outer part of the asteroid belt, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, and the spacecraft will travel about 3.5 million kilometers to reach it.
The probe features multispectral imaging devices to image the asteroid, spectrophotometers to determine its composition, and magnetic measuring devices to measure its magnetic field.
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