College of Western Australia: Technology to help NASA land next individual on the moon

A project led by The University of Western Australia in partnership with Fugro Australia and supported by the Australian Space Agency will expand optical communication technology to support international space exploration missions like NASA’s artemis program.

The Australian optical communications support for NASA Artemis and beyond project, funded by $199,634 via the Australian Space Agency’s Demonstrator program, will seek to determine a replacement optical communications ground station in Western Australia to enable more precise and clearer communication between Earth and therefore the Moon.

“During the Apollo era, all communication between Earth and therefore the astronauts in space relied on radio communication. Optical communication on the opposite hand has been shown to support data rates many times greater than radio communication.”

Dr Schediwy, leader of the ICRAR Astrophotoncs Group and member of the UWA International Space Centre, said that free-space optical communication would have huge benefits for space exploration.

“During the Apollo era, all communication between Earth and therefore the astronauts in space relied on radio communication, which given the massive distance between Earth and therefore the Moon, led to low data rates and poor transmitted live video quality,” Dr Schediwy said.

Optical ground station testing facility

Image: Optical ground station testing facility.

“Optical communication on the opposite hand has been shown to support data rates many times greater than radio communication, enabling 4K live footage of subsequent crewed Moon-landing – it’s the communication technology of the longer term .”

Associate Professor Danail Obreschkow, head of UWA’s International Space Centre, said the project would harness the expertise and resources of the newly established Centre.

“The International Space Centre launched earlier this year includes quite 12 research nodes, 150 researchers and 20 PhD students who are performing on a broad range of national space priorities, including the advancement of optical communication technologies,” Professor Obreschkow said.

“The scientists also are performing on research to enhance our daily lives like communication technologies, new sources of energy, medical advances and human resilience working in harsh environments.”