An experiment on the International Space Station has successfully beamed high definition video back to Earth with a laser–a feat that could someday aid communication with astronauts and spacecraft traveling to distant planets.

The Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science created a 175 megabit video transmission to a ground station in California in 3.5 seconds. With equipment currently in use aboard the ISS, the same transfer would take more than 10 minutes, according to NASA.

OPALS makes use of a laser that locks onto a target as the ISS orbits over the Earth. During an interview in April, OPALS project manager Michael Kokorowski likened the feat to hitting a human hair with a laser pointer from 20 feet away while walking.

The laser can transfer 10 to 1,000 times more data than traditional radio communication. During last weeks test, the video was transferred multiple times during a 148-second connection. The team achieved…