{"id":513803,"date":"2023-09-20T16:30:51","date_gmt":"2023-09-20T20:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?post_type=mission&p=513803"},"modified":"2023-09-20T16:30:52","modified_gmt":"2023-09-20T20:30:52","slug":"lunar-laser-communications-demonstration-llcd","status":"publish","type":"mission","link":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission\/lunar-laser-communications-demonstration-llcd\/","title":{"rendered":"Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration (LLCD)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) developed and tested optical communication technology using lasers through the Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration (LLCD) mission, which transferred data at much higher rates than Radio Frequency (RF) communications systems. SCaN demonstrated the technology with LLCD from October 2013 through April 2014 during the\u00a0Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE)\u00a0mission.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-media hds-module wp-block-image\"><div class=\"margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline\"><div class=\"hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto\"><figure class=\"hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-cover \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/llcd-0.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/llcd-0.jpg?w=1200\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048\" alt=\"\" style=\"transform: scale(1.2); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/llcd-0.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/llcd-0.jpg?resize=150,150 150w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/llcd-0.jpg?resize=300,300 300w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/llcd-0.jpg?resize=768,768 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/llcd-0.jpg?resize=1024,1024 1024w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/llcd-0.jpg?resize=50,50 50w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/llcd-0.jpg?resize=100,100 100w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/llcd-0.jpg?resize=200,200 200w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/llcd-0.jpg?resize=400,400 400w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/llcd-0.jpg?resize=600,600 600w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/llcd-0.jpg?resize=900,900 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" loading=\"eager\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>The LLCD demonstration consisted of a space terminal on the LADEE spacecraft and three ground terminals on Earth. Together, they demonstrated that it was possible to transfer up to 622 Mbps of data from the Moon with a space terminal that weighs less, uses less power, and occupies less space than a comparable RF system.<br><br><strong>LLCD Project Summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>High bandwidth, lunar orbit to Earth optical link<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Downlink: 40-622 Mbps; Uplink: 10-20 Mbps<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ground stations: White Sands, NM; NASA JPL\u2019s Table Mountain, CA; European Space Agency Tenerife, Spain (Canary Islands)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Flight on LADEE spacecraft: October 2013 – April 2014<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) developed and tested optical communication technology using lasers through the Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration (LLCD) mission, which transferred data at much higher rates than Radio Frequency (RF) communications systems. SCaN demonstrated the technology with LLCD from October 2013 through April 2014 during the\u00a0Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE)\u00a0mission. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":323,"featured_media":513805,"template":"","meta":{"nasa_hds_core_meta_l10n":"en-US","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_editor":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_contacts":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_topic":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_linked_locations":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_related_articles":[],"hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_id":"","hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_type":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_x":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_y":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_gallery_images":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_mission_date":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_mission_badge":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_mission_facebook_url":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_mission_twitter_url":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_mission_instagram_url":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_mission_linkedin_url":""},"categories":[10576],"mission-status":[10842],"mission-type":[10922],"mission-target":[10888],"mission-programs":[],"internal-terms":[],"coauthors":[11359],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"WebPage","headline":"Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration (LLCD)","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission\/lunar-laser-communications-demonstration-llcd\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission\/lunar-laser-communications-demonstration-llcd\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/llcd-0.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/llcd-0.jpg"},"articleSection":"Technology","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Catherine G. Manning"}],"creator":["Catherine G. Manning"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"NASA","logo":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/themes\/nasa\/assets\/images\/nasa-logo.svg"},"keywords":["Technology","Communicating and Navigating with Missions"],"dateCreated":"2023-09-20T20:30:51Z","datePublished":"2023-09-20T20:30:51Z","dateModified":"2023-09-20T20:30:52Z"},"rendered":"<meta name=\"parsely-title\" content=\"Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration (LLCD)\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-link\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission\/lunar-laser-communications-demonstration-llcd\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-type\" content=\"index\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-image-url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/llcd-0.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-pub-date\" content=\"2023-09-20T20:30:51Z\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-section\" content=\"Technology\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-tags\" content=\"Technology,Communicating and Navigating with Missions\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-author\" content=\"Catherine G. Manning\" \/>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/nasa.gov\/p.js"},"read_time":1,"featured_image":{"id":513805,"file":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/llcd-0.jpg","title":"llcd-0","alt":"","caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mission\/513803"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mission"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/mission"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/323"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mission\/513803\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":513814,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mission\/513803\/revisions\/513814"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/513805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=513803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=513803"},{"taxonomy":"mission-status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mission-status?post=513803"},{"taxonomy":"mission-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mission-type?post=513803"},{"taxonomy":"mission-target","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mission-target?post=513803"},{"taxonomy":"mission-programs","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mission-programs?post=513803"},{"taxonomy":"internal-terms","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-terms?post=513803"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=513803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}