Using technology developed at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, the Artemis II astronauts are using lasers to send high-resolution video and images back to Earth, reports Hanna Ali for WBUR. Bryan Robinson, the leader of the Lincoln Laboratory Optical and Quantum Communications Group, explained that laser beams allow them to direct more energy at a target receiver. In other words, "you can communicate at higher data rates," Robinson said.
MassLive reporter John Micek writes about how the Artemis II astronauts are using optical communications technology developed at MIT Lincoln Laboratory to send high-resolution video and images of the lunar surface back to Earth.
The stunning images of the moon and Earth being shared by the Artemis II crew have been made possible thanks to new optical communications technology developed by researchers at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, reports Emily Maher for WCVB-TV. "It was just awe-inspiring to think humans haven't seen the Earth from pole-to-pole in over 50 years, and being part of helping to make that happen is very cool," said Corrie Smeaton, associate group leader of the Optical Engineering Group at Lincoln Lab.
Artemis II features laser communication technology developed by researchers at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, reports Mary Salanda for WCVB. “Known as the O2O, the Orion Artemis II Optical Communications System is mounted on the spacecraft and features a 4-inch telescope that relies on lasers to quickly transmit images from space, including from the far side of the moon.”
A new laser communication system developed by a team from MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory is aboard NASA’s Artemis II mission to the moon, reports Nick Stoico and Hannah Goeke for The Boston Globe. “It’s a culmination of a huge effort by a lot of people,” says Lincoln Lab Group Leader Bryan Robinson. “We’ve been waiting until now to get it off the ground.”
Onboard NASA’s Artemis II mission is an optical (laser) communication system developed by researchers from MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory , reports Steph Solis for Axios. The spacecraft will carry “an optical communication system that can produce 4K video in space during the roughly 10-day flight,” explains Solis.
Prof. Julien de Wit speaks with Dan Rea from WBZ’s Nightside News about his team’s work developing new ways to address threats posted by small asteroids to our critical space infrastructure. “We are developing the technology here at MIT to find [asteroids] and then track them and understand if we should be caring about them,” de Wit explains.
Prof. Julien de Wit, Research Scientist Artem Burdanov and Research Scientist Saverio Cambioni join Edgar Herwick III of GBH’s Curiosity Desk to discuss their work with planetary defense and their method for detecting and tracking smaller asteroids that could impact Earth’s critical space infrastructure. “We are swimming in an era that is data rich, and so what we do in our group and at MIT is mine that data to reveal the universe like never before,” says de Wit. “Revealing new populations of asteroids, new populations of planets, and making sense of our universe like we have never done.”
Prof. Dava Newman speaks with USA Today reporter Sara D. Wire about NASA’s plans to return to the moon and, hopefully, Mars in the 2030s. The “moon is a three-day trip," Newman explains. "Mars, you need eight months. Those are very different targets.”
Using new observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers from MIT determined that asteroid 2024 YR4 will not collide with the moon, reports Hannah Devlin for The Guardian. “[Asteroid] 2024 YR4 is exceedingly faint right now, reflecting about as much light as an almond at the distance of the moon,” explain Prof. Julien de Wit and Andy Rivkin PhD '91, who co-led the observations. “Webb is the only observatory that could hope to make these measurements, as it is the only one with the required sensitivity and stability combined with precise moving-target tracking needed to follow and study objects like this.”
Prof. Danielle Wood speaks with CNBC reporter Laya Neelakandan about NASA’s Artemis III, the United States’ first venture back to the moon in over 50 years, which will carry the first female and first Black astronaut to the Moon. “NASA’s been thinking through this whole process, two decades’ worth, of what we’re going to do is prepare the government to focus on these harder, next-generation missions and be able to do things that are not already demonstrated,” says Wood.
Prof. Anna-Christina Eilers and postdoctoral associate Rohan Naidu speak with Scientific American reporter Rebecca Boyle about the discovery and study of Little Red Dots, mysterious, red spots that showed up in images from the James Webb Space Telescope. The dots, which astronomers dated to 600 million years after the big bang, “are in every single image the telescope takes,” says Naidu. “We have to find out about them if we want to tell a complete story about the early universe."
A new study by Prof. Sara Seager and her colleagues has found a solar system that contradicts the patterns commonly “seen across the galaxy and in our own solar system,” reports Jacopo Prisco for CNN. The study offers “some of the first evidence for flipping the script on how planets form around the most common stars in our galaxy,” says Seager. “Even in a maturing field, new discoveries can remind us that we still have a long way to go in understanding how planetary systems are built.”
Using the James Webb Telescope, postdoctoral associate Rohan Naidu and his colleagues have captured a glimpse of Galaxy MoM-z14, which existed 280 million years after the Big Bang, and could provide clues as to what the universe was like during its infancy and how it has evolved over time, reports Passant Rabbie for Gizmodo. “We can take a page from archeology and look at these ancient stars in our own galaxy like fossils from the early universe,” says Naidu. “Except in astronomy we are lucky enough to have Webb seeing so far that we also have direct information about galaxies during that time.”
A new analysis conducted by postdoctoral associate Rohan Naidu and his colleagues has found evidence that suggests “little red dot” galaxies may contain baby black holes, reports Alex Wilkins for New Scientist. “In ordinary black holes, what you actually see with your eyes is the tip of the iceberg of the total energy that is coming out of the system, but the little red dots we now understand should really be thought of as these puffed-up black hole stars,” says Naidu. “It seems that most of their energy is coming out at these wavelengths that we see with our eyes, so what you see is what you get.”