The lunar probe's got some new old-school tech.
The whole point of sending a hunk of metal into space to observe those things we're not close enough to see clearly is to have enough data to justify the expense - but one of the problems that NASA had run into was actually getting the information back to Earth.
Thankfully for us the scientists and engineers at NASA looked back to the past for a brand-new design, basing a new transmitter on older vacuum-tube technology as opposed to the current transistor-based (just like older radios).
Called the Travelling Wave Tube Amplifier, it's a 13-inch tube built by L-3 Communications Electron Technologies that uses electrodes to create high-powered microwave radiation - ideal for transmitting data over long distances without loss of quality.
The system works so well that they've been able to record speeds of up to 100Mbps, roughly equivalent to cabled networking on the ground, which give the lunar probe the capability to send an amazing 461GB of pictures, video and measurements recorded.
This also has potential use in geostationary satellites such as the communication and GPS systems orbiting the Earth, as a significantly increased bandwidth available would allow greater amounts of data - and therefore a wider range of uses.
Head over to NetworkWorld to read a lot more on the lunar probe, and cross your fingers for an eventual high-bandwidth internet streaming service - wirelessly from space.
Issue: 107 | December, 2009