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we are just 34 minutes away from

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launching this atlas 5 rocket you see

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right there on your screen on board are

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several payloads including nasa

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technology that could revolutionize how

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we communicate to and from space

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thank you for joining me for today's

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live launch coverage of nasa's laser

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communications relay demonstration or

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lcrd i'm megan cruz and i'm joining you

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live from nasa's kennedy space center in

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florida today's two hour launch window

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opens at 404 a.m eastern time and that

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rocket you just saw sitting on space

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launch complex 41 at cape canaveral

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space force station which is just behind

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me across the water here now lcrd is

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hitching a ride on the u.s space force's

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space test program three mission or stp

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3. you can think of the space test

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program as a ride share to space it's

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primarily for the department of defense

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to send up science and technology

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experiments but if there's room others

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can share that ride and that's what nasa

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is doing today

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so what does lcrd look like well there

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it is in the middle of your screen there

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about as big as a king-sized mattress

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sharing a spacecraft with other payloads

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it will showcase the unique benefits of

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laser also known as optical

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communications nasa has relied on radio

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communication since we first started

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exploring space but as we fly more

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missions that generate more data and as

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we work to establish a presence on the

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moon and send humans to mars we are of

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course going to need a communications

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upgrade lasers can transfer a lot more

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data at once how much more we'll say

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there's a high resolution map of mars it

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would take about nine weeks yes nine

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weeks to send that map to earth using