NASA has confirmed that astronauts on the Artemis 2 mission will test new laser communications systems.

Lasers offer the potential to send vastly more data from spacecraft than traditional radio signals and should enable viewers on earth to view high-defintion signals from the moon in real time.

A number of experimental laser relay satellites have been launched since 2021 and if tests are successful, the prototype equipment will form the basis of a next-generation Deep Space Network.

The International Space Station (ISS) is expected to connect to the experimental network later this year.

Artemis 2 will be the first crewed mission to travel to the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972, although this will be a fly-by rather than a landing. The mission is due to launch November 2024.

References

Space.com Artemis 2 will use lasers to beam high-definition footage from the moon