NASA’s Laser Comms Experiment Beams Second Video From Deep Space

This ultra-high-definition video depicting scenes from Earth and space was streamed via laser from deep space by NASA. It was part of the agency’s technology demonstration known as Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC), which is attached to the Psyche spacecraft that launched last October and is headed to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The 45-second video was transmitted June 24, 2024, with other test data when Psyche was about 240 million miles (390 million kilometers) from Earth — more than 2½ times the distance between our planet and the Sun. This is one of two UHD videos that were loaded onto the spacecraft before launch. The first UHD video was beamed from deep space on Dec. 11, 2023, and featured a cat named Taters chasing a red laser pointer for 15 seconds. More information about that achievement can be found here: NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California manages DSOC for the Technology Demonstration Missions program within the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate and the Space Communications and Navigation program within the Space Operations Mission Directorate. Arizona State University leads the Psyche mission, which is managed by JPL for NASA. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech