NASA is sending videos from the ISS to Earth using lasers

NASA is already beaming high-speed downloads to and from the moon, and it has now created a much faster link to the International Space Station (ISS). The agency this week used a high-powered laser to send a video (“Hello, World,” if you must know), in just 3.5 seconds. Over traditional radio frequencies, that would have taken over ten minutes, so obviously the boost in speed is a significant one. Through the Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science project (OPALS), a 2.5 watt, 1,550-nanometer laser transmitter was mounted to the ISS, and used to beam the video down at 50Mbps. And this is all done while the ISS, which orbits our planet at a relaxing 17,500 MPH, is hurtling through space—not like it’s just floating above Earth in one spot. NASA said this feat is like trying to keep a laser pointer aimed at the end of a human hair from 30 feet away while walking. So nearly impossible, got it. The more data NASA collects, the more information we need beamed down here to Earth. It’s a wonder we can even communicate with machine in space in the first place, let alone so quickly. NASA said OPALS’ success is not just a step forward for communicating with the ISS, but with satellites and other spacecraft well beyond low-Earth orbit.