---
title: "NASA: Mars Astronauts Will Use Lasers to Communicate With Earth"
description: "NASA is building a huge dish in California that it hopes will allow Mars astronauts to communicate with Earth — using high-powered lasers."
date: "2020-02-13"
modified: "2020-02-13"
authors:
  - name: "Jon Christian"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-mars-astronauts-lasers-communicate-earth"
categories:
  - "Astronomy"
  - "Mars"
  - "NASA"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "lasers"
  - "mars"
  - "NASA"
  - "the digest"
---

# NASA: Mars Astronauts Will Use Lasers to Communicate With Earth

![NASA is building a huge dish in California that it hopes will allow Mars astronauts to communicate with Earth — using high-powered lasers.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/nasa-mars-astronauts-lasers-communicate-earth.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Mars Charge

NASA's ambitious Mars timeline calls for a human expedition to the Red Planet by the mid-2030s.

To lay the groundwork for that epic journey, [*Inverse* reports](<https://www.inverse.com/science/human-missions-to-mars-will-use-lasers-to-communicate-with-earth-nasa>), the space agency is building a huge dish in California it hopes will allow Mars astronauts to communicate with Earth — using high-powered lasers.

## Radio Star

For decades, NASA largely stuck with old-fashioned radio waves to communicate with its astronauts and space vehicles. But when humans finally touch down on Mars, they're going to want a rock-solid, high-speed connection that the agency believes only a laser can provide.

"Lasers can increase your data rate from Mars by about 10 times what you get from radio," said Suzanne Dodd, the director of the program, in [a statement](<https://www.inverse.com/science/human-missions-to-mars-will-use-lasers-to-communicate-with-earth-nasa>).

## Real Dish

Construction has only started on the 112-foot dish, which workers are building in Goldstone, California. It'll eventually be part of a larger array of similar laser communication dishes.

But it'll be put to the test long before humans set foot on Mars. NASA is planning to try the system out to communicate with its Psyche mission, according to *Inverse*, which'll set out in 2022 to intercept an asteroid orbiting the Sun.

**READ MORE:** [Human missions to Mars will use lasers to communicate with Earth — NASA](<https://www.inverse.com/science/human-missions-to-mars-will-use-lasers-to-communicate-with-earth-nasa>) \[*Inverse*\]

**More on Mars:** *[See Boston Dynamics’ Robot Dog Tackle an Outdoor Obstacle Course](<https://futurism.com/see-boston-dynamics-robot-dog-outdoor-obstacle-course>)*

## Author
I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/jonchristian.net>)