NASA and ESA To Demonstrate Earth-Moon Laser Communication

cylonlover writes with this news bite about a cool new ground to space laser communication system from NASA and ESA: "Space communications have relied on radio since the first Sputnik in 1957. It's a mature, reliable technology, but it's reaching its limits. The amount of data sent has increased exponentially for decades and NASA expects the trend to continue. The current communications systems are reaching their limits, so NASA and ESA are going beyond radio as a solution. As part of this effort, ESA has finished tests of part of a new communications system, in preparations for a demonstration in October in which it will receive a laser data download from a NASA lunar orbiter."

Comments

Re:NASA

[Sarten-X]

Destructively "bouncing" a laser is easy. Just point it in the general direction, and apply power until there's too much extra energy for the target to handle.

Communication is more difficult, because not only do you have to point in exactly the right direction, from far further away (or have ridiculously more power), but you then have to modulate the laser appropriately to transmit data, and do so in such a way that atmospheric or other line-of-sight disturbances won't be too much of a problem, and you have to keep doing it long enough to send all you data through, and ideally even have a matching receiver to pick up the return direction.