NASA's Light Based Modem Will Be World's First To Reach Speeds Of 1GB

Many people love their Internet speeds of 12 mbps. While this may be satisfactory for many, NASA isn't quite satisfied. With their new light-based modem, the world is bound to see modem speeds reaching up to one gigabit!

This revolutionary modem developed by NASA is made up of integrated photonics, which will deliver faster internet speeds. NASA aims to make communication faster between men located outside the earth's atmosphere, and control centers on earth, so as to allow real-time responses if possible.

Although this has not yet replaced the current communication system used by NASA, as per Sky News' report, it is bound to be tested in the International Space Station in 2020. Those who hope that this will be utilized on earth would have to wait until then to find out if such device will be viable for use on earth's communication channels.

NDTV reported that the 2020 scheduled testing will be part of the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD), one of the programs of NASA. The size of the device is akin to that of a mobile phone. What makes it different from the usual cellphone is that it incorporates lasers and switches.

This device is very promising as it can amp up not only internet communication speeds, but also every device that utilizes light. Other devices that can potentially benefit from this technology includes surveillance systems and spectrometers.

Don Cornwell, Director of Advanced Communication and Navigation Division of NASA, said, "Integrated photonics are like an integrated circuit, except they use light rather than electrons to perform a wide variety of optical functions."

According to Mike Krainak, the developer of the modem, "We've pushed this for a long time." He also said that, "the technology will simplify optical-system design."

Kraniak stated that with this technology, power consumption of optical devices will be greatly reduced and reliability will be improved. The system will be at a lower cost but with better and newer functions.