NASA scientists are developing a laser link from Mars to Earth that's ten times faster than current radio frequency systems. According to an article in New Scientist, the laser will transmit up to 30 million bits per second at a lower power and mass compared to traditional wireless approaches.
"That leap in capacity is due to the different wavelengths of light carrying the data. The laser will use infrared light with a wavelength of 1.06 microns, which is thousands of times shorter than radio waves. Since all light travels at the same speed through space, shorter wavelengths carry more information in the same time."
Of course, clouds present a problem for optical communications. The beam will also be a few hundred kilometers wide and very faint by the time it reaches Earth, making the signal tricky to pick up. Still, a fully-functional system is expected to make a trip to the Red Planet in 2009 on board the Mars Telecommunications Orbiter. Maybe Xeni can ride along too.
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