NASA has just completed a successful test of laser communication
— according to Space.com, the agency just beamed an image of the
Mona Lisa from an installation in Maryland to the Lunar
Reconnaissance Orbiter some 240,000 miles away. The LRO, which
has been orbiting the moon since 2009, was the primary choice
for this test since it is already outfitted with laser
communication gear; most of NASA's other spacecraft use more
traditional radio signals for communication. The image of the
Mona Lisa was divided up into 150 x 200 pixel sections and then
beamed from the Goddard Flight Center up to the LRO at a rate of
about 300 bits per second — not exactly the fastest signal out
there, but we'll give it credit for managing to transmit data
all the way to the moon. "This is the first time anyone has
achieved one-way laser communication at planetary distances,"
said David Smith, a researcher working with the LRO's Lunar
Orbiter Laser Altimeter. "In the near future, this type of
simple laser communication might serve a