Ottawa pizzeria places among top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world at international competition
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
The use of invisible lasers in space may sound like something from science fiction, but it's real.
NASA's upcoming Laser Communications Relay Demonstration could revolutionize the way the agency communicates with future missions across the solar system.
These lasers could lead to more high-definition videos and photos from space than ever before, according to the agency.
The mission is set to launch as a payload aboard the US Department of Defense's Space Test Program Satellite 6 on December 5 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The launch window will remain open from 4:04 a.m. to 6:04 a.m. ET, and the agency will share live coverage of the launch on NASA TV and its website.
Since 1958, NASA has used radio waves to communicate with its astronauts and space missions. While radio waves have a proven track record, space missions are becoming more complex and collecting more data than before.
Think of infrared lasers as the optical communication version of high-speed internet, as opposed to frustratingly slow dial-up internet. Laser communications will send data to Earth from an orbit synchronous with the Earth's rotation, 22,000 miles (35,406 kilometers) above Earth's surface at 1.2 gigabits-per-second, which is like downloading an entire movie in under a minute.
This will improve data transmission rates 10 to 100 times better than radio waves. Infrared lasers, which are invisible to our eyes, have shorter wavelengths than radio waves, so they can transmit more data at once.
Using the current radio wave system, it would take nine weeks to send back a complete map of Mars -- but lasers could do it in nine days.
The Laser Communications Relay Demonstration is NASA's first end-to-end laser relay system that will send and receive data from space to two optical ground stations in Table Mountain, California, and Haleakalā, Hawaii. These stations have telescopes that can receive the light from the lasers and translate it into digital data. Unlike radio antennas, laser communication receivers can be up to 44 times smaller. Because the satellite can both send and receive data, it's a true two-way system.
The one disruption to these ground-based laser receivers is atmospheric disturbances, like clouds and turbulence, which can interfere with laser signals traveling through our atmosphere. The remote locations for the two receivers were chosen with this in mind since both typically have clear weather conditions at high altitudes.
Once the mission arrives in orbit, the team at the operations center in Las Cruces, New Mexico, will activate the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration and prepare it to send tests to the ground stations.
The mission is expected to spend two years conducting tests and experiments before it begins supporting space missions, including an optical terminal that will be installed on the International Space Station in the future. It will be able to send data from science experiments on the space station to the satellite, which will relay them back to Earth.
The demonstration acts as a relay satellite, which eliminates the need for future missions to have antennas with a direct line-of-sight on Earth. The satellite could help reduce the size, weight and power requirements for communications on future spacecraft -- although this mission is about the size of a king mattress.
This means that future missions could be less expensive to launch and would have room for more science instruments.
Other missions currently in development that could test laser communication capabilities include the Orion Artemis II Optical Communications System, which will allow for an ultra-high-definition video feed between NASA and Artemis astronauts venturing to the moon.
And the Psyche mission, which launches in 2022, will reach its asteroid destination in 2026. The mission will study a metallic asteroid that is more than 150 million miles (241 million kilometres) away and test its Deep Space Optical Communication laser to send data back to Earth.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
Police are searching for a suspect in a homicide investigation after a man was slashed in downtown Toronto on Sunday.
This Mother's Day Weekend, take a look at some of the most emotional movies inspired by moms.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.
The stakes have been set for a bet between Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors on who will win Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A grieving mother is hosting a helmet drive in the hopes of protecting children on Manitoba First Nations from a similar tragedy that killed her daughter.