Space communications system tested over Lake Erie | Space

CLEVELAND — A team of NASA engineers at Glenn Research Center in Cleveland is transforming the way astronauts communicate in space.

In the simplest of terms, the team developed a laser communications system which dramatically increases the speed for astronauts to send messages and data from space to earth. The system essentially creates high-speed internet for space.

“Milestones that have never occurred in human history in terms of data pushing from an airplane to the space station,” said Mark Russell, an Aviation Safety Officer and Research Pilot for NASA. “This is the groundwork that’s gonna be required for us to go first to the moon and then to Mars, because you can’t do any of this stuff without communication and we’re solving that right now.” 

The system relies on lasers which rapidly transfer encrypted data and messages. The Glenn Research team has run tests over Lake Erie using a plane equipped with a laser that establishes a connection to a laser on the ground.

The team on the ground then collects the data and they…