Laser Ranging Retro-Reflector: Continuing Measurements and Expected Results

After successful acquisition in August of reflected ruby laser pulses from the Apollo 11 laser ranging retro-reflector (LRRR) with the telescopes at the Lick and McDonald observatories, repeated measurements of the round-trip travel time of light have been made from the McDonald Observatory in Septe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 1970-01, Vol.167 (3918), p.458-460
Main Authors: Alley, C. O., Chang, R. F., Currie, D. G., Poultney, S. K., Bender, P. L., Dicke, R. H., Wilkinson, D. T., Faller, J. E., Kaula, W. M., MacDonald, G. J. F., Mulholland, J. D., Plotkin, H. H., Carrion, W., Wampler, E. J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alleys
Earth rotation
Earths Moon
Introduction
Laser arrays
Lasers
Libration
Observatories
Physics
Selenology
Travel time
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Summary:After successful acquisition in August of reflected ruby laser pulses from the Apollo 11 laser ranging retro-reflector (LRRR) with the telescopes at the Lick and McDonald observatories, repeated measurements of the round-trip travel time of light have been made from the McDonald Observatory in September with an equivalent range precision of ±2.5 meters. These acquisition period observations demonstrated the performance of the LRRR through lunar night and during sunlit conditions on the moon. Instrumentation activated at the McDonald Observatory in October has yielded a precision of ±0.3 meter, and improvement to ± 0.15 meter is expected shortly. Continued monitoring of the changes in the earth-moon distance as measured by the round-trip travel time of light from suitably distributed earth stations is expected to contribute to our knowledge of the earth-moon system.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.167.3918.458