NASA's Tech Demo Streams First Video From Deep Space via Laser

The video, featuring a cat named Taters, was sent back from nearly 19 million miles away by NASA’s laser communications demonstration, marking a historic milestone.

Laser beam message sent to Earth from deep outer space

The Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) experiment transmitted a near-infrared laser encoded with test data from an astonishing distance of nearly 10 million miles. 

A hidden phase of matter created by a burst of light

A pulse of laser light resulted in a stable "supercrystal" created by a team of U.S. researchers. The team's goal is to discover interesting states of matter that do not exist in equilibrium in nature.

NASA to demonstrate communications via laser beam

It currently takes 90 minutes to transmit high-resolution images from Mars, but NASA would like to dramatically reduce that time to just minutes. A new optical communications system that NASA plans to demonstrate in 2016 will lead the way and even allow the streaming of high-definition video from distances beyond the Moon.