NASA Achieves Milestone in 4K Video Streaming from Aircraft to ISS and Back

NASA Achieves Milestone in 4K Video Streaming from Aircraft to ISS and Back
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 25, 2024

NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland successfully streamed 4K video from an aircraft to the International Space Station (ISS) and back using laser communications for the first time. This achievement is part of ongoing tests to develop technology for live video coverage of astronauts on the Moon during the Artemis missions.

Traditionally, NASA has used radio waves to transmit data to and from space. Laser communications, using infrared light, can transmit data 10 to 100 times faster than traditional radio frequency systems.

In collaboration with the Air Force Research Laboratory and NASA's Small Business Innovation Research program, Glenn engineers installed a portable laser terminal on a Pilatus PC-12 aircraft. The aircraft flew over Lake Erie, transmitting data to an optical ground station in Cleveland. The data was then relayed through an Earth-based network to NASA's White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico, where scientists used infrared light signals to send it further.

The signals traveled 22,000 miles from Earth to NASA's Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) platform in orbit. The LCRD then sent the signals to the ILLUMA-T (Integrated LCRD LEO User Modem and Amplifier Terminal) payload on the ISS, which sent the data back to Earth. The High-Rate Delay Tolerant Networking (HDTN) system developed at Glenn enhanced the signal's ability to penetrate cloud coverage.

"These experiments are a tremendous accomplishment," said Dr. Daniel Raible, principal investigator for the HDTN project at Glenn. "We can now build upon the success of streaming 4K HD videos to and from the space station to provide future capabilities, like HD videoconferencing, for our Artemis astronauts, which will be important for crew health and activity coordination."

After each flight test, the team improved the technology's functionality. Testing aeronautics technology in flight identifies issues more effectively than ground testing and is more cost-effective than space testing. Proving success in a simulated space environment is essential for moving new technology from the laboratory to production.

"Teams at Glenn ensure new ideas are not stuck in a lab, but actually flown in the relevant environment to ensure this technology can be matured to improve the lives of all of us," said James Demers, chief of aircraft operations at Glenn.

These flights are part of NASA's initiative to stream high-bandwidth video and other data from deep space, supporting future human missions beyond low Earth orbit. As NASA continues to develop advanced instruments for capturing high-definition data on the Moon and beyond, the Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program embraces laser communications to send large amounts of information back to Earth.

While the ILLUMA-T payload is no longer on the ISS, researchers will continue testing 4K video streaming capabilities from the PC-12 aircraft through July, aiming to develop technologies needed to stream humanity's return to the Moon through Artemis.