MIT Lincoln Laboratory is currently developing optical communications technologies to support a variety of future NASA missions, including human space exploration efforts. The Artemis II mission, which will return humans to the Moon for the first time since the Apollo missions, will include an optical communication payload for the Orion Artemis II Optical Communications (O2O) demonstration.  The recently launched Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) provides an optical relay that will communicate between ground terminals and the soon to be launched Integrated LCRD Low-Earth Orbit User Modem and Amplifier Terminal (ILLUMA-T) aboard the International Space Station. This talk describes the development and status of these systems.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under Air Force Contract No. FA8702-15-D-0001. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Bob Schulein is a Technical Staff Member in the Optical/Quantum Communication Technology group at MIT Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, MA. His work focuses on designing, building, testing, and deploying free-space optical communications systems. He joined the Lab in 2005 and has worked in many roles on many programs, including the Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration. He is currently the Test and Operations Lead for the Lab's NASA efforts. 

He holds a B.S. in Optical Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Connecticut.