NASA looks to lasers to speed data

[nec209]

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- NASA says it's looking at lasers to speed up the transmission of high-resolution images from distance spacecraft like those now on Mars.

 

It currently takes 90 minutes to transmit images to Earth from the planet by radio, but NASA said research could dramatically reduce that time to just minutes and a new optical communications system it plans to demonstrate in 2016 will lead the way.

 

Such a system could even allow the streaming of high-definition video from distances beyond the moon, a release by the agency said Thursday.

 

"We want to take NASA's communications capabilities to the next level," said Dave Israel, who is leading a research team that includes NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

 

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2011/09/23/NASA-looks-to-lasers-to-speed-data/UPI-60161316821572/#ixzz1Ytjx0aJA

 

 

How can laser be faster or carry more information than say radio waves?

 

 

Yes it looks like the next technology advancement than the old crude radio waves but how can it carry more information ?

Edited September 24, 2011 by nec209

[TonyMcC]

If you are sending information in pulses (perhaps to use binary) you will need a certain number of cycles inside the pulse envelope for each bit of the information. If you are using a transmitting frequency higher than radio waves then it seems to me that a stream of bits will occupy less time for the same number of "cycles per bit".

[Athena]

It appears these guys are doing the same thing with radio waves as is done to make a laser beam and is getting radio waves faster than light?

 

http://www.universetoday.com/33752/device-makes-radio-waves-travel-faster-than-light/

[nec209]

If you are sending information in pulses (perhaps to use binary) you will need a certain number of cycles inside the pulse envelope for each bit of the information. If you are using a transmitting frequency higher than radio waves then it seems to me that a stream of bits will occupy less time for the same number of "cycles per bit".

 

What do you mean by certain number of cycles inside the pulse envelope ?

[TonyMcC]

What do you mean by certain number of cycles inside the pulse envelope ?

 

Binary data inside a computer is formed by dc pulses - 1 pulse for each binary digit (bit). Ideally each pulse should be a square wave with vertical edges.

However dc pulses cannot travel efficiently through space. Therefore each bit of information is transmitted through space as a burst of ac, usually at radio frequencies.

The number of cycles refers to the number of cycles that makes one burst of transmitted frequency. At the receiver the burst of ac has to be changed into a dc pulse. The higher the transmitted ac the shorter in time can be the obtained dc pulse whilst still maintaining a near perfect shape. The actual shape of the received dc pulse is what I referred to as its pulse envelope.