Projector Sound Projector Sound Beep On December 24, 1968, Apollo 8 captured the historic photo known as “Earthrise”. However, it would take several days for the rest of the world to see this awe-inspiring image. Today, NASA has the capability to send hundreds of “earthrise” like photos from the moon every second using lasers. The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer, or LADEE, will investigate the Moon’s fragile atmosphere to enhance our knowledge of Earth’s nearest neighbor. LLCD, the Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration, will hitch a ride aboard LADEE to lunar orbit. Using a small and lightweight telescope, LLCD will transmit hundreds of millions of laser pulses each second to one of three stations on the Earth….. Each of which was chosen for it’s cloud-free skies. To begin data transmission, the space and ground terminals must first locate each other. This process begins when the ground terminal scans LADEE’s path to illuminate the spacecraft. LLCD senses the flash from the ground and points its beam back to the source. The ground terminal acquires the beam from space and establishes a communication link. With contact established and alignment locked, hundreds of millions of data bits begin to flow between the two terminals every second. Music Back on Earth, the ground terminal receives the laser pulses through an array of telescopes that focus the weak signals onto ultra-sensitive detectors. These detectors count the individual signal photons from the terminal at the Moon, and turn them into data bits at revolutionary download speeds. In the future NASA could download finer images, hundreds of 3-D HD video streams, and could even one day enable “telepresence” at the Moon and beyond for human explorers still on Earth. Together LLCD and LADEE will take the next step in expanding NASA’s space communication capabilities while renewing our sense of discovery about the Moon and the universe. Music Beep Music Music Music