Space Communications & Navigation Program – Page 2

Introduction to Spectrum

April 5, 2024 NeRD

You can’t see it. . .you can’t touch it. . .you can’t live without it. Use these downloadable activity sheets to enhance your lesson plan at school or at home. Scroll down for the downloadable files. Have fun! Spectrum Infographic Infographic featuring factoids about the electromagnetic spectrum. NASA Spectrum Crossword Puzzle Crossword puzzle featuring terms relevant to the electromagnetic spectrum. NASA Download Spectrum Infographic Jan 17, 2024 JPEG (586.88 KB) Spectrum Crossword Jan 17, 2024 JPEG (363.91 KB)

NASA’s New Experimental Antenna Tracks Deep Space Laser

February 8, 2024 NeRD

5 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Deep Space Station 13 at NASA’s Goldstone complex in California – part of the agency’s Deep Space Network – is an experimental antenna that has been retrofitted with an optical terminal. In a first, this proof of concept received both radio frequency and laser signals from deep space at the same time. NASA/JPL-Caltech Capable of receiving both radio frequency and optical signals, the DSN’s hybrid antenna has tracked and decoded the downlink laser from DSOC, aboard NASA’s Psyche mission.…

NASA’s Deep Space Network Turns 60 and Prepares for the Future

December 22, 2023 NeRD

The radio antennas of the NASA’s Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex are located near the Australian capital. It’s one of three Deep Space Network complexes around the world that keep the agency in contact with over 40 space missions. The DSN marks its 60th anniversary in December 2023. NASA/JPL-Caltech A single radio antenna dish stands alone at the Deep Space Network’s Canberra complex in this photo from 1969, six years after the DSN was founded. Canberra now consists of three 34-meter (112-foot) antennas and one 70-meter (230-foot) antenna. NASA/JPL-Caltech The…

NASA’s Tech Demo Streams First Video From Deep Space via Laser

December 18, 2023 NeRD

Members of the DSOC team react to the first high-definition streaming video to be sent via laser from deep space on Dec. 11 at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Sent by the DSOC transceiver aboard the Psyche spacecraft, nearly 19 million miles from Earth, the video features a cat named Taters. NASA/JPL-Caltech A computer screen in the mission support area shows Taters the cat in a still from the first high-definition streaming video to be sent via laser from deep space, as well as the incoming data stream delivering the frames…

NASA’s Space Station Laser Comm Terminal Achieves First Link

December 13, 2023 NeRD

3 Min Read NASA’s Space Station Laser Comm Terminal Achieves First Link NASA’s ILLUMA-T payload at Goddard Space Flight Center fully tested and integrated prior to its delivery to Kennedy Space Center. Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center A NASA technology experiment on the International Space Station completed its first laser link with an in-orbit laser relay system on Dec. 5, 2023. Together, they complete NASA’s first two-way, end-to-end laser relay system. NASA’s LCRD (Laser Communications Relay Demonstration) and the new space station demonstration, ILLUMA-T (Integrated LCRD Low Earth Orbit…

Ham Radio in Space: Engaging with Students Worldwide for 40 Years

November 29, 2023 NeRD

In May 2018, a student at Mill Springs Academy in Alpharetta, Georgia, Andrew Maichle, talked to NASA astronaut Scott Tingle on the International Space Station via amateur or ham radio. The experience profoundly affected Maichle, who went on to study electrical engineering at Clemson University in South Carolina. “It was so cool to see in real time the utmost levels of what people in science are able to accomplish, and to talk to and interact with someone at that level,” Maichle recalls. “The space station is an incredible work of…

NASA Improves GIANT Optical Navigation Technology for Future Missions

October 25, 2023 NeRD

As NASA scientists study the returned fragments of asteroid Bennu, the team that helped navigate the mission on its journey refines their technology for potential use in future robotic and crewed missions. The optical navigation team at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, served as a backup navigation resource for the OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Regolith Explorer) mission to near-Earth asteroid Bennu. They double-checked the primary navigation team’s work and proved the viability of navigation by visual cues. The sample return capsule from…

NASA’s First Two-way End-to-End Laser Communications System

October 25, 2023 NeRD

5 Min Read NASA’s First Two-way End-to-End Laser Communications System NASA's ILLUMA-T payload communicating with LCRD over laser signals. Credits: NASA/Dave Ryan NASA is demonstrating laser communications on multiple missions – showcasing the benefits infrared light can have for science and exploration missions transmitting terabytes of important data. The International Space Station is getting a “flashy” technology demonstration this November. The ILLUMA-T (Integrated Laser Communications Relay Demonstration Low Earth Orbit User Modem and Amplifier Terminal) payload is launching to the International Space Station to demonstrate how missions in low Earth…

SCaN STEM Navigation Activities

September 28, 2023 NeRD

Navigate Space: Space Communications and Navigation Workbook Grades 8 – 12 NASA navigates throughout the solar system and beyond, revealing the mysteries of the universe. In this workbook, you’ll use basic mathematics concepts to explore space navigation. We’ll use simplified, real-world examples supplied by navigation engineers to delve deep into the exciting world of space exploration. As NASA goes forward to the Moon and journeys on to Mars, maybe you could be the one to plan our next big mission! Navigate Space Workbook Workbook Answers NASA’s Search and Rescue Coloring Book …