NASA has done something quite extraordinary, and it involves a cat video. Even though cat videos are a common sight on the internet, this specific clip has traveled an astonishing 19 million miles, all thanks to NASA’s Psyche mission spacecraft.
As the Psyche mission makes its way through space, it has been using its communication capabilities. The transmission of a video featuring Taters the cat has been celebrated as a significant milestone for NASA. In the video, the ginger tabby indulges in the timeless joy of chasing a laser pointer on a sofa—an endearing and universally relatable scene.
For those worried about Taters’ well-being, rest assured that the cat is not in space. The video was recorded on Earth and uploaded to the spacecraft before launch, as Taters belongs to an employee at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
The video of Taters made its journey from the Psyche mission to Earth in a matter of seconds—faster than some broadband providers can manage. It was encoded into near-infrared laser signals and transmitted by a flight laser transceiver on board Psyche to the Hale Telescope at Mount Palomar.
The successful data transfer, accomplished in just 101 seconds, has been praised by NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy as a significant achievement in advancing optical communications. Melroy highlighted the importance of expanding bandwidth to meet future data transmission needs for exploration and scientific goals during interplanetary missions.
This accomplishment follows a previous successful laser message transmission by the Psyche mission and illustrates the capability of transferring larger data sets using this innovative technology. Bill Klipstein, the tech demo’s project manager at JPL, expressed that one of their goals is to demonstrate the ability to transmit broadband video across millions of miles.