New Interplanetary Laser System Could Reach Mars or Jupiter

Mars or Jupiter may not be as far from reach as you think

A new laser system, developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, can now span interplanetary distances and make its mark within a millimeter.

As the video above explains, this means the system has the capacity to hit Mars — or even Jupiter.

The advanced laser system uses "active transceivers," meaning that active, synchronized receivers on Earth and in space can send and receive laser pulses, making them easily detectable and boosting power. The pulses are tagged with outgoing and incoming times; the pulses' travel time between transceivers informs the distance between them