NASA is always keen on researching and analyzing about interesting facts of the outer space. The institute has revealed several secrets in outer space with the help of its high-end technology. Recently NASA has decided to use its telecommunication technology for making a super spectrometer.
The technology has been beneficial for NASA as it has overpowered the several issues such as slow, inaccurate data deliveries over the internet. The current system is capable enough to deliver the data and voice faster through various telecommunication devices, platforms and internet networks. According to NASA, the technology will be prominently used in the formation of a super spectrometer — a small instrument used for collecting extraordinary information about extraterrestrial planets, asteroids, moons and comets— as per NASA’s next quest.
As per planned design, the key component will be as small as a computer chip but it holds the capacity to exceed its performance as compared to the larger one —MILAHI, mid-infrared heterodyne instrument — which is situated in Hawaiian observatory. Though MILAHI’s performance is good, it’s too heavy and large in size to fly on a satellite. To overcome this, the researchers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Maryland are working on building a new super spectrometer of smaller size. The instrument will be provided with waveguides based on telecommunication technology which will help it to determine molecular compositions of planetary surfaces and atmospheres. The initiative for super spectrometer construction is funded by Planetary Concepts for the Advancement of Solar System Observations (PICASSO) program, NASA.
According to Tony Yu—Principal Investigator and technologist, Goddard Space Flight Center, Maryland — the team aims to construct a light-weight, smaller instrument based on same science as MILAHI. The new machine will operate smoothly without any complex movements and also less power-consuming making it capable enough to fly with CubeSat platforms.
“CubeSat will help the research with its ability to fly multiple times to make multipoint observations”, he added.