Despite all the advanced technologies that are used in modern satellites, they still have to contact the Earth using low -speed radio transmitters. But soon this can change dramatically, since NASA is going to significantly increase the speed of communication using the latest communication system, in which the information is transmitted through the laser.
Named Lunar Lasercom Space Terminal (LLST), is the result of the joint work of the NASA space flight center and Lincoln laboratory from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It consists of three main parts: an optical module, which includes a 10-cm telescope, leading to one of the three ground terminals located in New Mexico, California And Spain;a modem module that forms a laser, encodes and transmits data;and control unit, which is responsible for telemetry and management of all systems. In the collection of LLST weighs about 30 kg.
If successful, the new system will allow satellites to contact the lunar orbit (about 400,000 km to the ground) at a speed of up to 622 Mbps/s. The most amazing thing in this is that, despite such a huge distance and movement of the satellite, the systems will allow you to enter a laser with an accuracy of a centimeter. LLST will be integrated into the next NASA project, dedicated to the study of moon dust and atmosphere, and was launched into space at the end of this year.