In this second episode of an LCRD-focused season of The Invisible Network podcast, we take a look at the reasons NASA is embracing optical communications technologies and what challenges LCRD will overcome.

In this second episode of an LCRD-focused season of The Invisible Network podcast, we take a look at the reasons NASA is embracing optical communications technologies and what challenges LCRD will overcome.

Today, Tuesday, December 7, 2021, the U.S. Space Force’s Space Test Program Satellite-6 launched from Kennedy Space Center on Florida’s space coast. The spacecraft contains a revolutionary space communications mission, NASA's Laser Communications Relay Demonstration, or LCRD.

Today, Tuesday, December 7, 2021, the U.S. Space Force’s Space Test Program Satellite-6 launched from Kennedy Space Center on Florida’s space coast. The spacecraft contains a revolutionary space communications mission, NASA's Laser Communications Relay Demonstration, or LCRD.

Over five episodes, this new season of The Invisible Network will dive into NASA's Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD), which will showcase the benefits of optical communications, which uses infrared lasers instead of radio waves to communicate.

Over five episodes, this new season of The Invisible Network will dive into NASA's Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD), which will showcase the benefits of optical communications, which uses infrared lasers instead of radio waves to communicate.

Happy International Podcast Day! The Invisible Network has some exciting things coming up, including seasons about NASA’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstration and NASA’s Deep Space Network. In the meantime, you can find all of NASA's out of this world podcasts at nasa.gov/podcasts.

Happy International Podcast Day! The Invisible Network has some exciting things coming up, including seasons about NASA’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstration and NASA’s Deep Space Network. In the meantime, you can find all of NASA's out of this world podcasts at nasa.gov/podcasts.

Each year, NASA's Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Internship Project welcomes students of all levels to develop projects of real benefit to the agency while earning real world experience in their fields. In this episode of The Invisible Network podcast, we'll speak with members of 2021's intern cohort at three different NASA centers.

Each year, NASA's Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Internship Project welcomes students of all levels to develop projects of real benefit to the agency while earning real world experience in their fields. In this episode of The Invisible Network podcast, we'll speak with members of 2021's intern cohort at three different NASA centers.

NASA is fostering a commercial space economy. In this episode of "The Invisible Network" podcast, we look at how NASA's LunaNet communications architecture allows industry to participate in Artemis.

NASA is fostering a commercial space economy. In this episode of "The Invisible Network" podcast, we look at how NASA's LunaNet communications architecture allows industry to participate in Artemis.

NASA is fostering a commercial space economy. In this episode of "The Invisible Network" podcast, we look at how NASA is working with industry to nurture a space communications marketplace.

NASA is fostering a commercial space economy. In this episode of "The Invisible Network" podcast, we look at how NASA is working with industry to nurture a space communications marketplace.

NASA is fostering a commercial space economy. In this episode of "The Invisible Network" podcast, we look at space communications support of the Commercial Crew Program.

NASA is fostering a commercial space economy. In this episode of "The Invisible Network" podcast, we look at space communications support of the Commercial Crew Program.

At its core the NASA History Office ensures that, as we look forward to the Moon, Mars and beyond, we remember the lessons we’ve learned from our predecessors. The race to the Moon in the 1960s occurred against a very different backdrop than today's Artemis program — but both exhibit what humanity can achieve when we set ourselves to lofty aims.

There is perhaps no one better than Jim Garvin to outline the unique opportunities for research that the Artemis missions to the Moon could provide scientists on Earth. Jim is chief scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and a tireless champion for crewed exploration of the Moon.

Science fiction and science fact have long enjoyed a symbiotic relationship, with ideas in one prompting innovations in the other, and so on. Dan Curry, a filmmaker, artist and visual effects producer best known for his Star Trek work, shares his perspectives.

Faster-than-light communications might not be a possibility now — our current understanding of natural laws don’t allow for it. But who knows what innovations await us just beyond the horizon?

What does the Pony Express of the 19th century have in common with the internet and disruption-tolerant networking? They're all (for their times) innovative communications technologies that revolutionize the way we share data.

Without communications there is no exploration: To reveal the unknown, a spacecraft must be able to share its data. In a sense, today's space communications networks are like the roadways of ancient empires, allowing information to move across vast distances. But how might our satellite data highways evolve to enable exploration centuries from now?

For billions of years, the Earth and the Moon have danced together. Since the Apollo era, scientists have used lasers — a technology then in its infancy — to measure their waltz. Lasers have since played increasingly important roles in spaceflight. They may even play a part in keeping the next generation of lunar astronauts connected to home.

Amidst the grandeur of spaceflight, there is a tiny bit of technology that, if not for its major role, might otherwise go unnoticed: distress beacons. This NASA-developed search-and-rescue technology could be life-saving not just for astronauts, but for travelers across the globe as well.