The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) sent a series of laser pulses to India’s Vikram rover, which successfully landed on the moon in August. On the eighth attempt, the retroreflector installed on Vikram bounced these pulses back.
This experiment could revolutionize the way we locate objects and determine their precise location on the lunar surface from vast distances – using a surprisingly low-tech solution.
“We have shown that we can locate our retroreflector on the surface of the Moon from its orbit,” he stated Xiaoli Sun, Goddard Space Flight Center team leader.
“The next step is to improve this technique so that it can become routine for missions that want to use such retroreflectors in the future,” he added.
According to NASA, the retroreflector in question is equipped with “eight quartz corner cube prisms set in a domed aluminum frame,” giving it a very unusual appearance. It requires no power and is surprisingly durable, so it could theoretically “last for decades.”
Unfortunately, collecting the additional data needed may be complicated because LRO’s altimeter is currently the only laser in lunar orbit. And it’s already working well – it’s been working 13 years longer than originally expected.
2024-01-23 18:46:11
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