Earth has just received what is possibly the most unique cat video ever made.
There’s nothing special about the video per se, it’s just a cat doing cat things, but what makes it remarkable is the fact it was sent from far away.
Extremely far away.
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NASA recorded and uploaded this video on Earth and then ‘shipped’ it to space aboard the Psyche’s mission spacecraft.
Launched in October this year, the rocket is currently on its way to a metal rich asteroid called ’16 Psyche’.
The asteroid isn’t particularly big, it has a diameter of just 140 miles, but it is extremely valuable to due a high concentration of various metals.
It is also far away, and that’s what makes this video so unique.
The spacecraft that’s on its way to 16 Psyche has already covered roughly 19 million miles and yet, it is only expected to reach the asteroid in 2029.
In the meantime, NASA is trying out different things when it comes to interstellar communications, including this video.
The short clip of Taters, this is the name of the cat, was filmed on Earth and then uploaded to the spacecraft.
NASA wanted to see if it was possible to send the video back to Earth from space.
They managed, and so that means this video is technically sent to us from 19 million miles away.
So there’s nothing to worry about.
Taters is safe and sound, on here on Earth with us.
As for the successful data transfer, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy said this is a major milestone for us.
“This accomplishment underscores our commitment to advancing optical communications as a key element to meeting our future data transmission needs,” he said.
The video is proof that larger data can be successfully transferred back to Earth.
So while the video might look adorable, and it is, it is also a massive achievement.
