NASA Streams First 4K Video from Aircraft to Space Station, Back.

NASA researchers have successfully conducted a laser communications experiment in space, transmitting 4K video footage from an aircraft to the International Space Station and back.

This achievement demonstrates that NASA can provide live coverage of the Artemis mission landing on the Moon. It is also a promising development for optical communications, which could connect humans to Mars and beyond.

Typically, NASA uses radio waves to send data and communicate with space. However, the agency states that using infrared light in laser communications can transfer data 10 to 100 times faster than radio waves.

A team of engineers fitted a portable laser terminal onto an aircraft, enabling data transmission to a Cleveland center during a flight over Lake Erie.

The data was then transmitted through a ground network to NASA’s facility in New Mexico, where scientists sent it 22,000 miles to the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD).

A message was sent to the ILLUMA-T on the International Space Station from the LCRD.