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The laser signal collected by the camera is then transmitted through an optical fiber that feeds a cryogenically cooled semiconductor nanowire single-photon detector. Designed and built by JPL Microdevice Laboratorythe detector is identical for the one used at Caltech’s Palomar Observatory, San Diego County, California, which acts as DSOC’s downlink ground station.
“It’s a high-tolerance optical system built on a 34-meter flexible structure,” said Barzia Tehrani, deputy director of ground communications systems and hybrid antenna delivery manager at JPL. “We use a system of mirrors, precise sensors and cameras to actively align and direct the laser from deep space onto a fiber leading to the detector.”
Teherani hopes the antenna will be sensitive enough to detect the laser signal sent from Mars at its farthest point from Earth (2 ½ times the distance between the Sun and Earth). Psyche will be at that distance in June on its way to the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter to investigate the metal-rich asteroid Psyche.
The antenna’s seven-segment reflector is a proof of concept for an expanded, more powerful version with 64 segments (the equivalent of an 8-meter aperture telescope) that could be used in the future.
An infrastructure solution
DSOC is paving the way for higher data rate communications capable of transmitting complex scientific information, videos and high-definition images in support of humanity’s next great leap: send humans to mars. The tech demo recently streamed the first ultra-high-definition video from deep space at record-breaking bit rates.
Retrofitting RF antennas with optical terminals and building purpose-built hybrid antennas could be a solution to the current lack of dedicated terrestrial optical infrastructure. The DSN has 14 antennas distributed in facilities in California, Madrid and Canberra, Australia. Hybrid antennas could rely on optical communications to receive large volumes of data and use radio frequencies for data that requires less bandwidth, such as telemetry (health and position information).