The "Mona Lisa" has been to the moon and back -- or at least a
digital image of her. The famous face was used in an experiment
and carried in a laser beam to a man-made satellite orbiting the
moon, NASA said Thursday. The successful transmission is a
significant achievement -- which Renaissance painter Leonardo da
Vinci would have surely appreciated -- because it marks "the
first time anyone has achieved one-way laser communication at
planetary distances," said principal investigator David Smith of
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. By using lasers, NASA
is now on the verge of revolutionizing and speeding up delivery
of data now dispatched from outer space and all around the solar
system, the agency said. Laser technology is used in CDs that
have made albums obsolete, and now it holds the promise of
bringing live, high-definition video feeds from far reaches of
the solar system, including Jupiter, NASA said. "In the near
future, this type of simple laser communication might serve as a
backup for the r