. 24/7 Space News .
TECH SPACE
NASA set to demonstrate x-ray communications in space
by Lori Keesey for GSFC News
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Feb 20, 2019

NASA's first-ever demonstration of X-ray communication will occur on the International Space Station. This image shows the locations of the Modulated X-ray Source and the Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer, or NICER, which are critical to the demonstration.

A new experimental type of deep space communications technology is scheduled to be demonstrated on the International Space Station this spring.

Currently, NASA relies on radio waves to send information between spacecraft and Earth. Emerging laser communications technology offers higher data rates that let spacecraft transmit more data at a time. This demonstration involves X-ray communications, or XCOM, which offers even more advantages.

X-rays have much shorter wavelengths than both infrared and radio. This means that, in principle, XCOM can send more data for the same amount of transmission power. The X-rays can broadcast in tighter beams, thus using less energy when communicating over vast distances.

If successful, the experiment could increase interest in the communications technology, which could permit more efficient gigabits-per-second data rates for deep space missions. Gigabits per second is a data transfer rate equivalent to one billion bits, or simple binary units, per second. These extremely high-speed rates of data transfer are not currently common, but new research projects have pushed computing capability toward this range for some technologies.

"We've waited a long time to demonstrate this capability," said Jason Mitchell, an engineer at NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, who helped develop the technology demonstration, which relies on a device called the Modulated X-ray Source, or MXS.

"For some missions, XCOM may be an enabling technology due to the extreme distances where they must operate," Mitchell said.

Perhaps more dramatically, at least as far as human spaceflight is concerned, X-rays can pierce the hot plasma sheath that builds up as spacecraft hurdle through Earth's atmosphere at hypersonic speeds. The plasma acts as a shield, cutting off radio frequency communications with anything outside the vehicle for several seconds - a nail-biting period of time dramatically portrayed in the movie, Apollo 13. No one has ever used X-rays in a communications system, though, so other applications not yet conceived could emerge, Mitchell said.

"Our goal for the immediate future is finding interested partners to help further develop this technology," Mitchell said.

Encoding Digital Bits
To demonstrate this new communications technology, NASA will use the MXS to generate rapid-fire X-ray pulses. Operated by another Goddard-developed computing and navigation technology called NavCube, MXS will turn on and off many times per second while encoding digital bits for transmission.

From the experimental payload, the MXS device will then send the encoded data via the modulated X-rays to detectors on the Neutron-star Interior Composition Explorer, or NICER, which is located 165 feet away - about the width of a football field - on the space station. In this way, NICER becomes the receiver of a one-way X-ray signal.

Although the first XCOM test will involve the transmission of GPS-like signals, Mitchell said the team may attempt to transmit something more complicated after the initial attempt.

"It's important is that we transmit a known code we can identify to make sure NICER receives the signal precisely the way we sent it," Mitchell said.

Although primarily built to gather data about the densest objects in the universe - neutron stars and their pulsating next-of-kin, known as pulsars - NICER was also designed to demonstrate advanced technology. In addition to the XCOM demonstration, the mission proved the effectiveness of X-ray navigation in space, showing in 2017 that pulsars could be used as timing sources for navigational purposes.

During that two-day demonstration, which the NICER team carried out with an experiment called Station Explorer for X-ray Timing and Navigation Technology, or SEXTANT, the mission gathered 78 measurements from four millisecond pulsars. The team fed that data into onboard algorithms to autonomously stitch together a navigational solution that revealed the location of NICER in its orbit around Earth as a space station payload. Within eight hours of starting the experiment, the system converged on a location within the targeted 6.2 miles and remained well below that threshold for the rest of the experiment.

NICER's ability to carry out science and demonstrate emerging, revolutionary technologies has captured the attention of those planning NASA's next era of human spaceflight. Missions that perform multiple functions are now considered a model, said Jake Bleacher, lead exploration scientist responsible for identifying areas where Goddard scientists can support human exploration of the Moon and Mars.

Technology Heritage
The idea to use X-rays to communicate and navigate originated more than a decade ago when NICER Principal Investigator Keith Gendreau began work on enabling technologies for a proposed black hole imager aimed at directly imaging the event horizon of a supermassive black hole or the point of no return where nothing - neither particles nor photons - can escape.

The idea was to establish a constellation of precisely aligned spacecraft that would in essence create an X-ray interferometer, an instrument used to measure displacements in objects. He conceived the idea of using X-ray sources as beacons to enable highly precise relative navigation. Using research and development funding, he developed the MXS.

Gendreau then reasoned that if he could modulate X-rays through a modulator, he could also communicate, thus giving birth to the NICER three-in-one mission concept.

The XCOM demonstration is managed by NASA's Space Communications and Navigation program within the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. NICER is an Astrophysics Mission of Opportunity within the Explorers program. The Space Technology Mission Directorate supports the SEXTANT component of the mission, demonstrating pulsar-based spacecraft navigation.

For more on SCaN's advanced communications and navigation technology program, go here


Related Links
Space Communications and Navigation program at NASA
Space Technology News - Applications and Research


Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly


paypal only
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal


TECH SPACE
Momentus Announces Orders are Open for the Vigoride Orbit Transfer Service
Santa Clara CA (SPX) Feb 07, 2019
Momentus, provider of in-space transportation services, has announced that they are taking orders for their Vigoride and Vigoride Extended services (orbital repositioning for satellites with masses up to 250kg) and have signed their first customer: EXOLAUNCH, in a contract worth more than $6M. EXOLAUNCH (formerly ECM Launch Services), is a leading European launch services provider and cluster integrator, that will first use Vigoride in the fourth quarter of 2020 and Vigoride Extended in 2021. A gr ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

TECH SPACE
Five future astronauts and a teacher you need to know

The future of human spaceflight in America

Refabricator to recycle, reuse plastic installed on Space Station

US to extend use of Russia's Soyuz for ISS missions until April 2020

TECH SPACE
Raptor engine beats Russian RD-180 record in combustion chamber pressure says Musk

Arianespace orbits two telecommunications satellites on first Ariane 5 launch of 2019

SpaceX no-load test delayed

Launch of Unmanned US Dragon 2 Spacecraft to ISS Set for March 2

TECH SPACE
Mars Rover Opportunity Ends Mission After 15 Years

New study suggests possibility of recent underground volcanism on Mars

DLR 'Mole' deployed on surface of Mars

InSight Prepares to Take Mars's Temperature

TECH SPACE
China improves Long March-6 rocket for growing commercial launches

Seed of moon's first sprout: Chinese scientists' endeavor

China to send over 50 spacecraft into space via over 30 launches in 2019

China to deepen lunar exploration: space expert

TECH SPACE
RIT faculty part of NASA's $242 million SPHEREx mission

Ball Aerospace to Build Spacecraft for NASA's SPHEREx Mission

UAE to Host Conference for Heads of Arab States' Space Agencies in March

Egypt to Host African Space Agency's Headquarters - Foreign Ministry

TECH SPACE
Blacksmiths keep alive the flame of China's molten steel 'fireworks'

Malaysia to end bauxite mining ban despite environment fears

New technology captures movement of quantum particles with unprecedented resolution

Solid-state catalysis: Fluctuations clear the way

TECH SPACE
NASA Selects New Mission to Explore Origins of Universe

New NASA research consortium to tackle life's origins

Scientists discover oldest evidence of mobility on Earth

Better to dry a rocky planet before use

TECH SPACE
Ultima Thule is more pancake than snowman, NASA scientists discover

New Horizons' evocative farewell glance at Ultima Thule

Sodium, Not Heat, Reveals Volcanic Activity on Jupiter's Moon Io

New Horizons' Newest and Best-Yet View of Ultima Thule









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.