Communication

Transmission of data is required between the Earth and a spacecraft. According to the NASA Thesaurus, “the act of, or methods for, conveying information to, from, or through outer space” is known as space communication. Transmission of information between the Earth and the spacecraft is known as the uplink, and between the spacecraft and the Earth as the downlink. Communication is also required between astronauts and between the teams of scientists and engineers on the Earth. Many missions are now collaborations between different nations and so both the cultural and the language differences of the different parties must be considered to ensure ideas and information between these groups of people are not distorted by translation or cultural assumptions.