NASA Receives First Streaming Video from Deep Space

A new important achievement of American researchers from NASA, who managed to obtain high-definition streaming video transmitted from deep space to Earth, “filmed” by sophisticated laser equipment of the Psyche probe when it was approximately 31 million kilometers from our planet.

The footage, which lasts about twenty seconds, shows Taters, an orange tabby cat, trying to catch the red light of a toy laser. A very symbolic video, as the new test allowed us to better check the functionality of a completely new system called “Flight Laser Transceiver,” a device that uses pulses within the laser range to send data into space. The video, transmitted at 267 megabits per second (Mbps), took 101 seconds to reach Earth.

As NASA wrote in a press release, “the experiment conducted by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) demonstrated important new capabilities for transmitting more data over longer distances.” This is a very important result, taking into account future research at large distances from our planet, a NASA representative emphasized.

The Psyche probe was launched into space in mid-October 2023 to analyze some asteroids, almost entirely composed of iron and metals, that orbit Mars and Jupiter. The first high-definition video test was successfully conducted in November, when Psyche was 16 million kilometers from Earth. After transmitting a mass of randomly generated data, it was decided to transmit a recorded video “featuring” Taters. However, it is unknown whether the video captured by the Hale Telescope at Mount Palomar Observatory in California was also shown to Taters, who remained here on Earth to play.

Ryan Rogalin, scientific director of the project, stated: “Even though the transmission took place over tens of millions of kilometers, it was possible to send video at faster speeds than a broadband Internet connection.” And that’s because, after being received at Mount Palomar Observatory, the revolutionary video was relayed to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory headquarters, near Pasadena, also in California, through a “regular” Internet connection that was slower than the “space” link between the Psyche probe and Earth.