The completion of the 30-day Lunar Laser Communication
Demonstration or LLCD mission has revealed that the possibility of expanding
broadband capabilities in space using laser communications is as bright as
expected.
Hosted aboard the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment
Explorer known as LADEE, for its ride to lunar orbit, the LLCD was designed to
confirm laser communication capabilities from a distance of almost a
quarter-of-a-million miles. In addition
to demonstrating record-breaking data download and upload speeds to the moon at
622 megabits per second (Mbps) and 20 Mbps, respectively, LLCD also showed that
it could operate as well as any NASA radio system. "Throughout our testing we did not see
anything that would prevent the operational use of this technology in the
immediate future," said Don Cornwell, LLCD mission manager at NASA's
Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.