NASA's Psyche has set a new benchmark for space communications.

In December 2024, the spacecraft successfully beamed an infrared laser message back to Earth from a mind-boggling distance of 494 million kilometers (307 million miles). That's more than twice the average distance between Earth and Mars and more than 1,285 times the distance to the Moon .

It's a triumph for NASA's Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) technology test, which has been underway since the asteroid-bound spacecraft launched in 2023 . Now, Earth has received Psyche's 65th and final laser downlink signal from a distance of 350 million kilometers (218 million miles).

Related: Earth Received a Message Laser-Beamed From 10 Million Miles Away in NASA Test

From this point, Psyche will focus on its mi

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