U.S. Immigration focuses on U.S. Technology development: The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE), developed by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, has successfully entered lunar orbit. After further orbital adjustments, the spacecraft has entered a near-circular orbit, allowing scientists to control the spacecraft to transmit lasers from the Moon to Earth. This marks a record-breaking long-distance space laser communication experiment, officially known as the Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration (LLCD). The results of this experiment will provide a basis for establishing space laser transmission in the Earth-Moon system. The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer primarily investigates the lunar atmospheric exosphere and carries instruments such as the Lunar Exosphere Analyzer, Ultraviolet-Visible Spectrometer, and lunar dust detection equipment. After completing its mission, it may impact the Moon.
The U.S. lunar probe has set a record for the fastest data transmission and download speeds between the Moon and Earth. This communication demonstration utilizes laser technology rather than radio wave transmission. Pulsed laser beams will be established between the lunar probe and the ground, covering a distance of 239,000 miles, approximately 384,633 kilometers, with a transmission speed of 622 megabits per second. NASA officials stated that this process will also demonstrate an error-free uplink transmission speed of 20 megabits per second, with signals sent from a ground station in New Mexico to the probe. The Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is involved in establishing this Earth-Moon communication demonstration. Director Don Conwell believes that our goal is to verify and establish high-speed interstellar communication through the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer and to use this technology in future space missions.
Laser communication technology is crucial for interplanetary missions, as it helps ground scientists establish fast and high-fidelity communication channels with spacecraft and probes, enabling the transmission of high-quality images and high-definition videos. Whether it is lunar probes, Mars rovers, or probes or spacecraft in the outer solar system, they can establish high-quality communication channels with Earth. Previously, NASA conducted laser transmission tests using the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, sending an image of the Mona Lisa from the ground station to the probe. Although this is not the first laser transmission test, it is the first probe specifically demonstrating interplanetary laser transmission. LADEE was launched on September 6 and primarily investigates the mysterious lunar dust and thin atmosphere discovered since the Apollo era.
