NASA has made a huge breakthrough in space communication – successfully receiving a laser signal from an astonishing 290 million miles away.
The achievement shatters previous records and could revolutionise the way humans explore the solar system.
Record-breakers at NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications technology demonstration had been testing the possibility of using lasers to transmit messages deep into space.
Lasers can deliver data up to 100 times faster than the radio frequencies currently used, enabling the transmission of more complex and high-definition information.
But the advanced technology requires extremely high precision.
The laser signal was sent to the Psyche spacecraft which was launched in October 2023. While Psyche’s primary mission is to study an asteroid of the same name, it also carries NASA’s laser communication experiment to push the boundaries of space communication.
The distance covered — approximately 460 million kilometres — is broadly comparable to the maximum space between Earth and Mars when they are at their widest distance.
NASA previously transmitted a laser signal from 10 million miles away, marking the start of a series of record-breaking achievements as Psyche continues its journey farther from Earth.
This included the first ultra high-definition video beamed from space, which featured images of a cat named Taters.
As the spacecraft moves farther, the transmission speed decreases.
While data could be sent at a rate of 267 megabits per second when Psyche was just 33 miles away, the latest transmission achieved over the summer reached speeds of only 8.3 megabits per second.
Meera Srinivasan, the project’s operations lead, described the milestone as “significant”.
“Laser communication requires a very high level of precision,” the expert explained. “Before we launched with Psyche, we didn’t know how much performance degradation we would see at our farthest distances.”
Nasa administrator Bill Nelson added: “This extraordinary achievement will transform the way we explore the solar system.”
In August, we revealed scientists had identified a reservoir of liquid water deep within Mars’ rocky outer crust, bringing humanity one step closer to potentially sustaining life on the Red Planet.
The finding stemmed from analysis of data collected by NASA’s Mars Insight Lander, which has been studying the planet since 2018.
