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Associated Press

An orange tabby cat named Taters stars in the first video transmitted by laser from deep space, stealing the show as he chases a red laser light.
The 15-second video was beamed to Earth from Nasa’s Psyche spacecraft, 30 million km (19 million miles) away.
It took less than two minutes for the ultra high-definition video to reach Caltech’s Palomar Observatory, sent at the test system’s maximum rate of 267 megabits per second.
The video was loaded into Psyche’s laser communication experiment before the spacecraft blasted off to a rare metal asteroid in October.


The mission team at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, decided to feature an employee’s playful three-year-old kitty.
The video was streamed to Earth on December 11 and released by Nasa this week. Despite the vast distance, the test relayed the video faster than most broadband internet connections here on Earth, said the project’s Ryan Rogalin.
Nasa wants to improve communications from deep space, especially as astronauts prepare to return to the moon with an eye toward Mars.
The laser demo is meant to send data at rates up to 100 times greater than the radio systems currently used by spacecraft far from Earth.
Life on Jupiter? European probe sets off to examine planet and its moons
More test transmissions are planned as Psyche heads toward the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
But Taters will not be making any more appearances, according to JPL.
Joby Harris, an art director in JPL’s DesignLab, could not be prouder, but does not want his cat’s new-found celebrity to go to his head.
“I’m celebrating his spotlight with him, but making sure he keeps his paws on the carpet,” Harris said in an email on Tuesday.


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Space

Orange tabby cat named Taters steals the show in 1st video sent by laser from deep space

A 15-second ultra-high-definition video featuring a cat named Taters was streamed via laser from deep space by Nasa on December 11. Photo: Nasa via AP

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin launches first rocket since 2022 crash

The New Shepherd rocket blasts off from the Blue Origin base near Van Horn, Texas, on Tuesday. Photo: Blue Origin via AFP

Lawyer tells judge ‘I’m not a cat’ in viral video as he struggles with filter during Zoom court hearing

Lawyer Rod Ponton appears with a kitten filter turned on during a virtual hearing of the 394th District Court of Texas on Tuesday. Image: Judge Roy Ferguson via Reuters

Cuteness overload: 3-year-old Chinese boy swab tests mask-wearing pet cats for Covid in viral video amuses mainland social media

A boy in China was inspired after seeing coronavirus testing at his school and decided to give his pet cats Covid-19 tests as well. Photo: SCMP Composite

The boy’s cat’s did not resist the tests, but they did not cooperate either. Photo: Weibo

Chinese social media was delighted by the video of the boy’s cat home testing operation. Photo: Weibo

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The 15-second clip was beamed to Earth from Nasa’s Psyche spacecraft 30 million km away
Despite the vast distance, the test relayed the video faster than most broadband internet connections here on Earth


The 15-second clip was beamed to Earth from Nasa’s Psyche spacecraft 30 million km away.


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