Interplanetary Data Transport... By Laser

from the at-least-it's-not-WiMax dept

Thu, Sep 16th 2004 8:52am — Mike Masnick

There are plenty of people who have been working on better ways to transmit data across planets as we reach further out into space. When the Mars Rover had problems it took some time to fix it, in part due to the slow data rate transfer from here to Mars (and back). However, NASA scientists are now working on a method to use a laser to beam data at a rate between one million and 30 million bits per second -- quite a bit faster than today's radio transmissions.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

4 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

bob, 16 Sep 2004 @ 10:27am

Here's an application for quantum entaglement
This would be a good application for quantum entangled pairs. Especially since intantaneous data transfer is the goal.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
dorpus, 16 Sep 2004 @ 12:17pm

Compromise?
Is it possible to emit radio waves in polarized/synchronized form, spread over a suitable cone covering most of Earth? Why restrict ourselves to optical light, or to a narrow beam?

[ link to this | view in thread ]
someone247356, 16 Sep 2004 @ 12:54pm

I hate to burst anyone's bubble
Um, I hate to burst anyone's bubble, but radio waves travel at the same speed as light waves.

All electromagnetic radiation travels at the same speed through a vacuum. So using a laser, instead of radio isn't going to speed anything up.

You may be able to transmit *MORE* data with a laser than with radio, but then there's always that pesky line of sight problem...

Just my $0.02 (Canadian, before taxes)
someone247356
[ link to this | view in thread ]
dorpus, 16 Sep 2004 @ 1:13pm

Re: I hate to burst anyone's bubble
That would be true in a strict vacuum, but don't different wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation travel at different speeds through a given medium? Interplanetary space is full of dust and gas molecules.
[ link to this | view in thread ]