Video – NASA sends a video of a cat to Earth from deep space

As part of a test of cutting-edge new technology, NASA broadcast a video of cats from deep space on December 11.

The high-resolution images took less than two minutes to reach Earth.

Crucial experience. For the first time, NASA sent back a streaming video from deep space on December 11. The star of this 15-second sequence is a ginger white cat named Taters, who is owned by a worker at the US Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The cat pinned to the couch is playing trying to catch a point of light dropped by a laser.

The operation was part of testing a cutting-edge new technology, the laser communications system. With the help of this equipment, video was transmitted from an instrument on NASA’s Psyche probe, which was located about 30 million kilometers from the blue planet. The result was astonishing: The high-definition images took less than two minutes – 101 seconds to be precise – to reach Earth. The transmission rate was not less than 267 Mbps, which is more than a traditional Internet connection.

A trip to Mars is on the horizon

The Palomar Observatory in California received the signal and sent it directly to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the south of the same American state. “After the video was received at Palomar, it was sent to JPL over the Internet, and this communication was slower than the signal coming from deep space.”Ryan Rogalin, a NASA project participant, told AFP.

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Video clips have already been transmitted before via this laser technology from space, but from a much closer distance. In the medium term, the development of transferring an increasing volume of data must constitute a fundamental pillar before sending manned missions to Mars. “Increasing our productivity is essential to achieving our future goals in science and exploration.”confirms Pam Milroy, deputy administrator of NASA. Work that Taters the Cat will be proud to contribute to.