Spotlight: JPL uses Cryospot 3 in successful Lunar Laser Communications Demo

On September 6th, 2013, NASA launched the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer.  This spacecraft was designed to transmit data at up to 622 megabits per second to ground receiving terminals using an on-board laser as a part of the Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration

On October 18th, 2013,  LLCD "made history, transmitting data from lunar orbit to Earth at a rate of 622 Megabits-per-second (Mbps). That download rate is more than six times faster than previous state-of-the-art radio systems flown to the moon... Proving the capability to communicate with multiple locations, LLCD successfully transmitted its beam several times to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Optical Communications Telescope Laboratory in California." (NASA press release)

Photon Spot's Cryospot™ 3 was a part of this exciting demonstration and collaborative effort.

The Cryospot 3 was used by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a federally-funded research and development center and NASA field center, at their ground-based optical receiver terminal located in southern California.  The ability to reach sub-Kelvin temperatures was a prerequisite for JPL's detectors, a feature that the Cryospot 3 with Freeze4™ technology can readily provide.  Photon Spot delivered fully-functioning hardware to JPL on time, and within budgetary requirements, enabling JPL to achieve their project milestones and mission success.

Contact us to learn how Photon Spot can help you solve your engineering problems.

 

Cryospot 3 (front)Cryospot 3 (back)