In our modern world everyone certainly wants to send and receive wireless data as fast as they can, and NASA is no exception. NASA has confirmed that they will be testing a prototype laser communications system called OPALS (Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science) this October from the International Space Station (ISS).

The thing about the OPALS system is that it can transmit laser beams that are a 100 times narrower than radio waves between Earth and space. This will allow higher data rates.

NASA will be carrying out the tests from the ISS by sending video data via one of the OPALS lasers to a ground receiver located in Wrightwood, California (a distance of 250 miles). They will be doing the tests for a period of three months with each test beam lasting two and a half minutes.

But don’t expect such a communications system from your wireless carrier. Besides the data rate, the reason that they are using laser is that they won’t have to use any bandwidth being used by others. And the transmission will be very secure since to intercept the sent info one will have to be directly in the beam of laser. And also although the system sounds simple NASA says that it should be very precise as it will be like “trying to use a laser to point to an area that’s the diameter of a human hair from 20-to-30 feet away while moving at half-a-foot per second”.

Just in case you didn’t know, back in January Russian astronauts aboard the ISS transmitted data using laser to Earth.

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BTE-Dan (Build The Enterprise Dan?) has published specifications for the iconic spacecraft, as well as estimations for the costs involved. He also has a mission plan and funding strategies, demonstrating that he has really thought this out. If everything goes according to plan, he said the real USS Enterprise (called the Gen1 Enterprise) could be built in as little as 20 years.

While his proposed Gen1 Enterprise will bear a resemblance to its sci-fi counterpart, its function will be a little different. This Enterprise will be a “spaceship, a space station, and a spaceport,” working in some ways similar to the current International Space Station, though BTE-Dan decries the lack of gravity on the ISS. He’s overcome it with a rotating magnetically-suspended gravity wheel in the saucer section, generating 1g. He also bemoans the “comical and primitive” toilet facilities and the cramped quarters. His Gen1 Enterprise would be home to about 1000 people.

As expensive as it sounds, Dan claims the the project would constitute only (I say only) 0.27 percent of the United States’ GDP, and would allow the construction of ever-more advanced Enterprises every 33 years. Dan claims this compares favorably to the Apollo era, when NASA’s budget averaged 0.5 percent of the country’s GDP. Further, at a spend of $40 billion per year, Dan reckons this equates to 1.1 percent of the 2012 budget.

This spaceship is not designed to “boldly go where no one has gone before.” Instead, the 1.5 GW nuclear-powered ion engine is for intra-solar system missions, reaching the Moon in 3 days and Mars in 90 days. It would not have any “faster than the speed of light” warp drives. One small step for man? One giant waste of time for mankind?

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Flying a human into space is a really expensive task. But today’s technological advancements are creating robots that are getting smaller, cheaper and more capable, and the machines of course won’t be asking for air, water or food. That’s why NASA has been developing helper robots that can support and enhance the capabilities of humans for space missions.

They are currently testing robots called SPHERES (Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites) which actually have been around since 2006. The robots, having the size of that of a bowling ball, utilize CO2 thrusters to fly around the International Space Station.

And no, it’s not just you. They look similar to the droid from Star Wars. MIT professor David Miller was inspired by the scene from the movie in which Luke Skywalker is trained by a droid.

In the early stages, scientists from NASA were doing experiments to ensure that the SPHERES were capable of getting around objects and flying in formation. Now, they are trying to expand the capabilities of the robots. For that purpose, they attach an Android-powered Samsung Nexus S onto the robot.

Once attached, the handset becomes the brain of the robot and will tell it where to go. The enhanced robot will conduct surveys and inspections of the space station’s interior with the built-in camera to capture photos and video, thereby giving the crew a lot more time to do other tasks such as editing their landing speech. And in the future, the robots can be utilized for tasks outside the station and other duties as well.

According to a NASA research engineer, they chose the Nexus S, as it is easy to take apart and because they are familiar with the Android platform which will help while making customizations. They have used AA alkaline batteries instead of lithium-ion on the device and it has no GSM antenna; so that it does not interfere with the electronics at the station.

Check out the videos to know a lot more.

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The company has three final missions planned with NASA this year, and is looking to pick up work shuttling supplies and crew between the International Space Station with their Atlantis and Endeavour vessels afterwards. USA would make two trips a year at under $1.5 billion annually.

On the other hand, SpaceX estimated it would cost only $560 million for their Dragon spacecraft to make four crewed flights per year.

“We thought this was a good option to be put on the table to be evaluated with all the other commercial options, since it’s a vehicle that has really proven itself,” said Mark Nappi, head of United Space Alliance’s Florida operations. “It is safe. We have a lot of history, we understand how to operate it.”

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