International Space Station downloading HD Video with High Powered Laser. E.T can "phone home" now.

Francisco De Jesùs.

NASA: International Space Station downloading HD Video with High Powered Laser. E.T can "phone home" now.

Do you remember Steven Spielberg`s E.T movie scene saying "phone home" let`s take a look:

Well, that will not be so hard to do now, thanks to NASA new technology communications you will able to "phone home" at light speed from space, how does this project work? just follow the story:

The Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science project, or OPALS, mounted a 2.5 watt, 1,550-nanometer laser transmitter to the ISS. The device was tasked with transmitting data at 50 megabits per second to a NASA receiving station near Los Angeles. With the ISS hurtling around our planet at over 17,000 MPH, a steady aim is hugely important: NASA likens the taskto "aiming a laser pointer at the end of a human hair 30 feet away and keeping it there while walking."

The transmission was a success: the laser rig beamed down the "Hello, World" video shown above in a mere 3.5 seconds, a feat that would have taken more than 10 minutes using traditional radio frequencies currently used for data transmission to outer space.

This artist's concept shows how the Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science (OPALS) laser beams data to Earth from the International Space Station.

Image Credit: 

NASA

OPALS and NASA