There’s a ton to talk about and all of it requires your keen attention and your calendar. Guests are welcome, remote and in person Attend the next 2nd Saturday meeting at the Buttercup Inn, 660 Ygnacio Valley Rd, Walnut Creek, CA 94596 We start gathering at about 9:30 to start the meeting at 10:00 Recent Events Updates Upcoming events page Join Our Club Monthly Meeting Minutes BATOC Annual Board Meeting Meetings are at 10:AM on the second Saturday. The laboratory program manager for the TBIRD payload and ground communications, Jade Wang, explained the reason for the modification.Quick links: NEW! Join our meeting remotely*

The signal amplifier was put through a thermal test that simulated the environment in space – its fibers melted, and a modification had to be made. Upon testing, some of the components were then modified to suit the space. The engineers put these components through radiation, shock, vibration, and thermal-vacuum tests to ensure they would fare well in space. MIT’s engineers were able to pull off the TBIRD payload, which is around the size of a tissue box, by using three readily-available components: How MIT engineers pulled off the TBIRD system With the TBIRD capable of sending up to 200 gigabits per pass, the difference between it and radio-frequency links is highly significant.

The infrared light used in the TBIRD is very different from traditional radio waves, as the infrared light sends data in significantly tighter waves. SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service averages between 20MB to 100MB, which is still way short of the TBIRD system.

That means the MIT engineers' new technology is confirmed to be 1,000 times more than the traditional method. Traditionally, radio-frequency links used for satellite communication had a speed rate of 0.1MB per second.

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