AIRBORNE VISIBLE LASER OPTICAL COMMUNICATION EXPERIMENT

Abstract

A series of optical communication experiments between a high altitude aircraft at 18.3 km (60,000 ft) and a ground station are planned by NASA in the summer of 1972. The basic concept is that an optical tracker and transmitter will be located in each terminal. The aircraft transceiver consists of a 5-mW HeNe laser transmitter with a 30-megabit (Mbit) modulator. The ground station beacon is an argon laser operating at 488 mn. A separate pulsed laser radar is used for initial acquisition. The objective of the experiment is to obtain engineering data on the precision tracking and communication system performance at both terminals. Atmospheric effects on the system performance are of prime importance.