When NASA sends astronauts to the moon this week, on the first crewed mission beyond Earth’s orbit in more than 50 years, Canberra’s Mt Stromlo Observatory will supply the communication line.
Nestled amongst the gumtrees and kangaroos on Mt Stromlo, the Australian National University (ANU) has a Quantum Optical Ground Station that can track, transmit and receive communications from the Orion spacecraft.
It’s all part of a trial of NASA’s new laser communication system and Canberra’s state-of-the-art telescope is capable of space-to-ground laser communications, which could pave the way for future lunar-based missions for NASA.
The ANU Space Centre’s Dr Kate Ferguson said that building this capability in the Southern Hemisphere was critical to establishing reliable communication to the moon and the Solar System.
“This demonstration will showcase the University’s research expertise in optical ground stations and optical communication capabilities,” Dr Kate said. “This mission is the culmination of years of capability development in optical communications at ANU and validates that ANU and Australia are ready to support future space exploration and commercial missions.”
During the mission, ANU researchers at Mount Stromlo will work with their counterparts from NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and with the Mission Control Center at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
Communicating in space usually relies on radio waves. By using laser communications, data can be sent and received up to 100 times faster.
Instead of radio signals, laser communications systems use infrared light to transmit high-definition video, picture, voice and science data across vast distances in less time.
NASA has used laser communications during previous technology demonstrations, but the 10-day Artemis II test flight will be the first crewed mission to attempt using lasers to transmit data from such a distance.
Mount Stromlo Observatory will serve as an important test location for the new transceiver design, which will examine how lasers send data to and from deep space.
The 10-day Artemis II test flight is scheduled for no earlier than Thursday 2 April Canberra time. Through Artemis, NASA will send astronauts to explore the moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits and to build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.
