Taters The Cat Obliviously Makes NASA History By Playing With A Laser Dot
Video screenshot via NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has propelled the realm of cat videos and memes to new, interstellar heights by streaming the first ultra-HD video from deep space, with a playful orange tabby cat named Taters stealing the spotlight.
This 15-second feline-focused footage, showcasing Taters’ pursuit of a laser pointer dot, was beamed back from a probe nearly 19 million miles away—a small step for a cat, but a giant leap for the space agency.
We just streamed the first ultra-HD video brought to you via laser from deep space. And it’s a video of Taters, a tabby cat.
— NASA (@NASA) December 19, 2023
This test will pave the way for high-data-rate communications in support of the next giant leap: sending humans to Mars. https://t.co/tf2hWxaHWO pic.twitter.com/c1FwybYsxA
The visual treat was uploaded pre-launch and includes Taters, the pet of a JPL employee, in a spirited chase after a laser pointer, combined with overlayed graphics detailing the probe's orbital path, telescope data, and Taters' vital stats.
Sent via laser communications—mirroring Taters’ own laser-chasing antics—this footage marks a historic moment for NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications experiment. Despite the vast distance of over 80 times the Earth-Moon gap, the transmission was achieved in a mere 101 seconds, outpacing several Earthbound broadband connections.
Image via NASA/JPL-Caltech
“Despite transmitting from millions of miles away, it was able to send the video faster than most broadband internet connections,” expresses Ryan Rogalin, who was charged with overseeing the project’s receiver electronics.
The clip, a part of NASA’s experiment to test streaming capabilities in deep space, is crucial for the future of human space exploration beyond Earth’s orbit, ensuring that expeditions to Mars and beyond are more connected than ever before.
Image via NASA/JPL-Caltech
The Taters video embarked on its interstellar journey aboard the Psyche probe, launched in October on a six-year mission to an asteroid. It reached Earth on December 11, serving as a successful test for future high-data-rate communications in space exploration, including missions to Mars.
Taters may have unknowingly pawed his way into the history books, but he also joins the ranks of cats who have made a mark in the world of tech. In 1928, for example, a statue of Felix the Cat was used in television test broadcasts.
[via The Guardian, Space.com, NASA/JPL-Caltech, images via NASA/JPL-Caltech]
