Young JPL Staff Use ISS For Optical Comms Tests
By Frank Morring, Jr. .Source: Aviation Week & Space Technology .
Even as more senior staffers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., begin to explore Mars with the state-of-the-art Curiosity rover, a group of scientists, engineers and neophyte managers in their 20s is preparing to use whatever is at hand to validate space-to-ground laser communications. That includes commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) avionics, the International Space Station and the SpaceX Dragon cargo carrier ...
Even as more senior staffers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., begin to explore Mars with the state-of-the-art Curiosity rover, a group of scientists, engineers and neophyte managers in their 20s is preparing to use whatever is at hand to validate space-to-ground laser communications. That includes commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) avionics, the International Space Station and the SpaceX Dragon cargo carrier ...
