The NASA Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration-Successful High-Rate Laser Communications To and From the Moon

摘要

The Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration (LLCD) is NASA's first demonstration of the use of free-space optical communications for high-rate duplex communications between a lunar spacecraft and an Earth ground station. The LLCD system comprised a space terminal on the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Exploration (LADEE) spacecraft and three ground terminals developed by NASA and the European Space Agency. The primary mission occurred during the fall of 2013 and successfully demonstrated reliable data delivery over optical data links operating at rates as high as 20 Mbps on the uplink and 622 Mbps on the downlink.