Phys.org February 25, 2019
Since its inception in 1958, NASA has relied solely on radio communications to stay in contact with all of its missions beyond Earth. NASA is looking at X-ray communications (XCOM) through which more information could be sent with the same amount of transmission power, and less energy needed over long distances. X-rays can penetrate the hot plasma that builds up as spacecraft re-enter Earth’s atmosphere at hypersonic speeds. NASA (Goddard Space Center) has created Modulated X-ray Source (MXS), which will be tested in the coming years. MXS will be controlled using the NavCube to send encoded data via X-ray pulses from one end of the station to the other. This first test will involve the transmission of GPS-signals, but the development team hopes to send something more complicated as well…read more.
Credit: NASA