Artemis II to Test Laser-Based Communication From the Moon

During its upcoming Artemis II mission , NASA plans to test a new communication system to send messages back home, ABC reports . While in transit around the moon, astronauts will be able to use a laser-based communication system to send back HD videos, telemetry data, mission information, and voice calls.

The Orion Artemis II Optical Communication System (O2O) has been used on seven unmanned missions, but this will be the first time it's been used by a human crew to transmit information. NASA claims it can send back data up to 100 times faster than traditional radio-based communications systems. That should allow for much greater transmission of images and video as Artemis II approaches the Moon before traveling beyond it.

Credit: Dave Ryan/NASA

The Artemis II crew will fly around 230,000 miles from Earth at their furthest distance—the farthest human beings have ever been from Earth. However, this isn't even close to the theoretical maximum range for the O2O. NASA estimates that the laser-based communication system should work effectively over millions of miles, potentially opening it up as an option for more grandiose missions in the future.

"Artemis II is taking a huge step forward in making that third leg, the ability to actually communicate that information at a much higher speed, to keep up with the advances of the needs of the information," Alan Willner, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Southern California, told ABC.

For additional redundancy, Artemis II will also operate the standard radio transmission, and NASA will use both its Near Space Network and Deep Space Network to manage it. These will leverage large antenna networks in the US, Spain, and Australia to keep in touch with Artemis throughout its mission.

After a recent delay due to a hydrogen leak during a fuelling test, Artemis II is now expected to launch in March .