Conference Session B5
6227
Disclaimer — This paper partially fulfills a writing requirement for first year (freshman) engineering students at the University
of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering. This paper is a student, not a professional, paper. This paper is based on
publicly available information and may not be provide complete analyses of all relevant data. If this paper is used for any
purpose other than these authors’ partial fulfillment of a writing requirement for first year (freshman) engineering students at
the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering, the user does so at his or her own risk.
FREE-SPACE OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS AND THEIR USE IN NASA’S
LUNAR LASER COMMUNICATION DEMONSTRATION
Peter Bonino, peb26@pitt.edu, Bursic, 2:00, James Bamberger, jfb38@pitt.edu, Sanchez, 10:00
Revised Proposal — This paper will discuss the operations
behind free-space optical communications (FSOC) and how
they are utilized to wirelessly transfer data across thousands
of miles through space. In theory FSOC works the same as
regular wired fiber optics, where beams of infrared light are
used to transport data. However, instead of using a fiber optic
cable, FSOC uses a laser that is transmitted from the source
and received at its accompanying receptor. The entire system
is composed of an optical transmitter and lens that emits the
light beam where it will be intercepted by another lens at the
optical receiver [1]. Through the Lunar Laser
Communication Demonstration (LLCD), NASA has
established a free-space optical communication with a lunarorbiting spacecraft. With a ground terminal on earth and a
terminal on the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment
Explorer (LADEE), a high rate communications link between
earth and the moon has been established. The connection was
upheld for about 30 days during which it was able to perform
“critical communications functions such as delivery of
telemetry, transfer of files, streaming of real-time highdefinition video, time-of-flight measurements for ranging, and
commanding over the optical uplink” [1].
FSOC will change the way NASA communicates with
space stations and satellites. Radio frequency
communications can only operate at higher data rates by
constructing newer and larger antenna and transmitters. It is
expensive and time intensive to build these whereas freespace optical connections offer higher data rates and can be
modified at any time. Being capable of record breaking data
upload speeds for such a distance, FSOC will allow for
expanded applications of GPS and other satellite based
services [2]. Space travel also has the potential to be
expanded through rapid data transfer. Communication time
delays can be the determining factor between life and death
for space missions, meaning that more rapid data transfer can
drastically
improve
mission
safety.
Currently,
“communication over radio waves could have round-trip
delays of up to 31 minutes at Mars” [3] which has detrimental
effects on both “team performance and emotional wellbeing”[3]. FSOC has the potential to cut down on the time
gap, expanding human-manned space travel.
University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering 1
2016/01/29
To best research free-space optical communications and
their functionality, this paper will first cover how FSOC work
and how they are different from both traditional fiber optics
and NASA’s radio communication systems. Technical
research papers will be the best research sources to examine
the intricacies of FSOC systems. This will segway to how
FSOC are used by NASA in the Lunar Laser Communication
Demonstration and why it is a significant development.
Articles and reports from NASA as well as other research
papers will be the most useful references when discussing the
application of FSOC in the LLCD.
REFERENCES
[1] B. Robinson, D. Boroson, A. Burianek, D. Murphy, F.
Khatri, J. Burnside, J. Kansky. (2014, May). “The NASA
Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration- Successful
High-Rate Laser Communications To and From the Moon.”
MIT
Lincoln
Laboratory.
(Online
Article).
http://arc.aiaa.org/doi/pdf/10.2514/6.2014-1685
[2]
(2012,
October).
“Importance
of
Optical
Communications.” National Aeronautics and Space
Administration.
(online
article).
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/scan/engineering/tech
nology/txt_opticalcomm_why.html
[3] (2014, August). “NASA is Laser-focused on Deep Space
Communication” National Aeronautics and Space
Administration.
(Online
Article).
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/
comm_delay_assessment
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
A. Carrasco-Casado, J. Sanchez-Pena, R Vergez. (2015,
December). “CTA Telescopes as Deep-Space Lasercom
Ground Receivers.” IEEE Photonics Journal. (Online
Article).
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=7
328240
Peter Bonino
James Bamberger
This article from a professional journal highlights the
advantages that come with integrating free-space optical
communications. Optical communication does not encounter
the same restraints and limitations as radio frequency, and
thus has become more prominent in recent years. We plan to
use this journal article to describe the practicality of optical
communications in space.
Administration.
(Online
Article).
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/
comm_delay_assessment
This is an article released by NASA that discusses how
delays in communication between earth and manned
spacecraft can cause issues and the initiatives being taken to
improve the speed of connection. It contains valuable
feedback from crew members that were on various space
missions. This report is a more recent account of how NASA
is using FSOC in the Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science
(OPALS) investigation.
“Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC)”. National
Aeronautics and Space Administration. (Online Article).
http://gcd.larc.nasa.gov/projects/deep-space-opticalcommunications/#.VqjkfiorKM8
In this article NASA describes the Deep Space Optical
Communication Project and states that the objective is to
develop key technologies for the implementation of a deep
space optical transceiver and ground receiver that will enable
greater than 10X the data rate of a state-of-the-art deep space
radio frequency system for similar spacecraft mass and
power. This article provides us information on how optical
communications is being implemented.
“NSPE Code of Ethics for Engineers.” National Society of
Professional
Engineers.
(Online
Article).
http://www.nspe.org/resources/ethics/code-ethics
This is the official Code of Ethics for the National Society
of Professional Engineers. It clearly outlines the expectations
for engineers regarding honesty and integrity. It will be used
to compare how FSOC aligns with the principles that
engineers use to be professionals. Ethics are often thought as
abstract principles but the NSPE makes them concrete and
applicable in their code.
(2012, October). “Importance of Optical Communications.”
National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (online
article).
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/scan/engineering/tech
nology/txt_opticalcomm_why.html
This article from NASA explains its current issues with
conventional methods of communication in space. In the past
NASA has used radio frequency communications in order to
communicate; however, with the complexity of missions
increasing exponentially, these traditional methods are
becoming less practical. In order to accommodate for the
increase in data, NASA would have to significantly increase
the size of its antennas or power of its radio transmitters.
Optical communications offer a solution to this issue as they
allow for more information to be sent faster with less
antennas. We plan to use this source as a description of the
limitations of radio frequency communications.
B. Robinson, D. Boroson, A. Burianek, D. Murphy, F. Khatri,
J. Burnside, J. Kansky. (2014). “The NASA Lunar Laser
Communication Demonstration- Successful High-Rate Laser
Communications To and From the Moon.” MIT Lincoln
Laboratory.
(Online
Article).
http://arc.aiaa.org/doi/pdf/10.2514/6.2014-1685
This article offers a technical explanation of the Lunar
Laser Communication Demonstration that also highlights
each major part of the project, that will help with our
understanding of how the test was carried out. We will use
this information in creating our explanation of how optical
communications were developed and how they work.
B. Robinson, D. Boroson, D. Burianek, D. Murphy. (2011).
“The Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration.” MIT
Lincoln
Laboratory.
(Online
Article).
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=5
783709
This journal article from the MIT Lincoln Laboratory
describes NASA’s first attempt to demonstrate optical
communications, which was named the Lunar Laser
Communications Demonstration or LLCD. The LLCD’s goal
was to successfully communicate from a lunar orbiting
spacecraft to an Earth-based ground receiver. We plan to use
this article to provide an explanation behind that technology
that has allowed optical communication to come to fruition.
“Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration (LLCD)”.
(2014, May).
National Aeronautics and Space
Administration.
(Online
Article).
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/scan/engineering/tech
nology/txt_opticalcomm_start.html
This article from NASA also describes the Lunar Laser
Communications Demonstration and highlights the results
from the project. Space Communications and Navigation, or
SCaN, concluded as a result of this test that optical
communication technology transferred data at much higher
rates than radio frequency. Information from this article will
aid our understanding of the LLCD project and the affect it
will have on integrating optical communications in the future.
(2014, August). “NASA is Laser-focused on Deep Space
Communication” National Aeronautics and Space
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