Lunar Laser Ranging Retroreflectors: Velocity Aberration and Diffraction Pattern
The Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) retroreflector arrays have been on the Moon for half a century. During that time, the laser range uncertainty has improved by a factor of 100. Consequently, the science results have also improved by orders of magnitude. New retroreflectors are scheduled to go to the Moo...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
|
| Series: | The Planetary Science Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/acbeab |
| _version_ | 1827361608594096128 |
|---|---|
| author | James G. Williams Luca Porcelli Simone Dell’Agnello Lorenza Mauro Marco Muccino Douglas G. Currie Dennis Wellnitz Chensheng Wu Dale H. Boggs Nathan H. Johnson |
| author_facet | James G. Williams Luca Porcelli Simone Dell’Agnello Lorenza Mauro Marco Muccino Douglas G. Currie Dennis Wellnitz Chensheng Wu Dale H. Boggs Nathan H. Johnson |
| author_sort | James G. Williams |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) retroreflector arrays have been on the Moon for half a century. During that time, the laser range uncertainty has improved by a factor of 100. Consequently, the science results have also improved by orders of magnitude. New retroreflectors are scheduled to go to the Moon on Commercial Lander Payload Services missions and the Lunar Geophysical Network mission. The new retroreflectors are single 10 cm corner cube retroreflectors that will not spread the laser pulse during reflection like the existing arrays do. Due to the orbital and Earth rotational speeds, there is a velocity aberration of 0.″8–1.″5 for existing stations. Larger corner cubes require attention to ensure that the spread of possible velocity aberration displacements is optimally contained within the diffraction pattern. The diffraction pattern can be changed by making one or more of the rear dihedral angles slightly different from 90°. Improvements in the equipment at the LLR stations and improvements in the data analysis software are also desirable. Future possibilities are described. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T07:08:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cd050a609b1b4b108fcb3e72372523be |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2632-3338 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T07:08:04Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Planetary Science Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-cd050a609b1b4b108fcb3e72372523be2024-02-03T04:13:52ZengIOP PublishingThe Planetary Science Journal2632-33382023-01-01458910.3847/PSJ/acbeabLunar Laser Ranging Retroreflectors: Velocity Aberration and Diffraction PatternJames G. Williams0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8441-5937Luca Porcelli1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2153-4242Simone Dell’Agnello2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0691-8213Lorenza Mauro3Marco Muccino4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2234-9225Douglas G. Currie5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6177-9826Dennis Wellnitz6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6607-8949Chensheng Wu7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8414-4487Dale H. Boggs8https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1568-3428Nathan H. Johnson9Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91109-8099, USA ; James.G.Williams@jpl.nasa.govNational Institute for Nuclear Physics—Frascati National Labs (INFN—LNF) , Frascati (Rome), ItalyNational Institute for Nuclear Physics—Frascati National Labs (INFN—LNF) , Frascati (Rome), ItalyNational Institute for Nuclear Physics—Frascati National Labs (INFN—LNF) , Frascati (Rome), ItalyNational Institute for Nuclear Physics—Frascati National Labs (INFN—LNF) , Frascati (Rome), Italy; aeroTecno s.r.l. , Rome, ItalyUniversity of Maryland , College Park, MD 20742, USAUniversity of Maryland , College Park, MD 20742, USAUniversity of Maryland , College Park, MD 20742, USA; KBR, Inc. , Greenbelt, MD 20770, USAJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91109-8099, USA ; James.G.Williams@jpl.nasa.govNational Institute for Nuclear Physics—Frascati National Labs (INFN—LNF) , Frascati (Rome), ItalyThe Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) retroreflector arrays have been on the Moon for half a century. During that time, the laser range uncertainty has improved by a factor of 100. Consequently, the science results have also improved by orders of magnitude. New retroreflectors are scheduled to go to the Moon on Commercial Lander Payload Services missions and the Lunar Geophysical Network mission. The new retroreflectors are single 10 cm corner cube retroreflectors that will not spread the laser pulse during reflection like the existing arrays do. Due to the orbital and Earth rotational speeds, there is a velocity aberration of 0.″8–1.″5 for existing stations. Larger corner cubes require attention to ensure that the spread of possible velocity aberration displacements is optimally contained within the diffraction pattern. The diffraction pattern can be changed by making one or more of the rear dihedral angles slightly different from 90°. Improvements in the equipment at the LLR stations and improvements in the data analysis software are also desirable. Future possibilities are described.https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/acbeabSpace vehicle instrumentsThe MoonEarth-moon system |
| spellingShingle | James G. Williams Luca Porcelli Simone Dell’Agnello Lorenza Mauro Marco Muccino Douglas G. Currie Dennis Wellnitz Chensheng Wu Dale H. Boggs Nathan H. Johnson Lunar Laser Ranging Retroreflectors: Velocity Aberration and Diffraction Pattern The Planetary Science Journal Space vehicle instruments The Moon Earth-moon system |
| title | Lunar Laser Ranging Retroreflectors: Velocity Aberration and Diffraction Pattern |
| title_full | Lunar Laser Ranging Retroreflectors: Velocity Aberration and Diffraction Pattern |
| title_fullStr | Lunar Laser Ranging Retroreflectors: Velocity Aberration and Diffraction Pattern |
| title_full_unstemmed | Lunar Laser Ranging Retroreflectors: Velocity Aberration and Diffraction Pattern |
| title_short | Lunar Laser Ranging Retroreflectors: Velocity Aberration and Diffraction Pattern |
| title_sort | lunar laser ranging retroreflectors velocity aberration and diffraction pattern |
| topic | Space vehicle instruments The Moon Earth-moon system |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/acbeab |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jamesgwilliams lunarlaserrangingretroreflectorsvelocityaberrationanddiffractionpattern AT lucaporcelli lunarlaserrangingretroreflectorsvelocityaberrationanddiffractionpattern AT simonedellagnello lunarlaserrangingretroreflectorsvelocityaberrationanddiffractionpattern AT lorenzamauro lunarlaserrangingretroreflectorsvelocityaberrationanddiffractionpattern AT marcomuccino lunarlaserrangingretroreflectorsvelocityaberrationanddiffractionpattern AT douglasgcurrie lunarlaserrangingretroreflectorsvelocityaberrationanddiffractionpattern AT denniswellnitz lunarlaserrangingretroreflectorsvelocityaberrationanddiffractionpattern AT chenshengwu lunarlaserrangingretroreflectorsvelocityaberrationanddiffractionpattern AT dalehboggs lunarlaserrangingretroreflectorsvelocityaberrationanddiffractionpattern AT nathanhjohnson lunarlaserrangingretroreflectorsvelocityaberrationanddiffractionpattern |