Small and lightweight laser retro-reflector arrays for lunar landers
A set of small and lightweight laser retro-reflector arrays (LRAs) was fabricated and tested for use on lunar landers under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Service program. Each array contains eight 1.27-cm-diameter corner cube retro-reflectors mounted on a dome-shaped aluminum structure. The arrays...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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The Optical Society
2020
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/124549 |
| _version_ | 1826188205901217792 |
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| author | Sun, Xiaoli Smith, David Edmund Hoffman, Evan D. Wake, Shane W. Cremons, Daniel R. Mazarico, Erwan Lauenstein, Jean-Marie Zuber, Maria T. Aaron, Edward C. |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Sun, Xiaoli Smith, David Edmund Hoffman, Evan D. Wake, Shane W. Cremons, Daniel R. Mazarico, Erwan Lauenstein, Jean-Marie Zuber, Maria T. Aaron, Edward C. |
| author_sort | Sun, Xiaoli |
| collection | MIT |
| description | A set of small and lightweight laser retro-reflector arrays (LRAs) was fabricated and tested for use on lunar landers under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Service program. Each array contains eight 1.27-cm-diameter corner cube retro-reflectors mounted on a dome-shaped aluminum structure. The arrays are 5.0 cm in diameter at the base, 1.6 cm in height, and 20 g in mass. They can be tracked by an orbiting laser altimeter, such as the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter, from a distance of a few hundred kilometers or by a landing lidar on future lunar landers. The LRAs demonstrated a diffraction-limited optical performance. They were designed and tested to survive and function on the Moon for decades, well after the lander missions are completed. ©2019 |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T07:56:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/124549 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T07:56:09Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | The Optical Society |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1245492022-09-30T01:08:49Z Small and lightweight laser retro-reflector arrays for lunar landers Sun, Xiaoli Smith, David Edmund Hoffman, Evan D. Wake, Shane W. Cremons, Daniel R. Mazarico, Erwan Lauenstein, Jean-Marie Zuber, Maria T. Aaron, Edward C. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences A set of small and lightweight laser retro-reflector arrays (LRAs) was fabricated and tested for use on lunar landers under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Service program. Each array contains eight 1.27-cm-diameter corner cube retro-reflectors mounted on a dome-shaped aluminum structure. The arrays are 5.0 cm in diameter at the base, 1.6 cm in height, and 20 g in mass. They can be tracked by an orbiting laser altimeter, such as the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter, from a distance of a few hundred kilometers or by a landing lidar on future lunar landers. The LRAs demonstrated a diffraction-limited optical performance. They were designed and tested to survive and function on the Moon for decades, well after the lander missions are completed. ©2019 2020-04-08T18:29:00Z 2020-04-08T18:29:00Z 2019-11 2019-09 2020-04-06T19:26:46Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 2155-3165 https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/124549 Sun, Xiaolin, David E. Smith, Evan D. Hoffman, Shane W. Wake, Daniel R. Cremons, Erwan Mazarico, Jean-Marie Lauenstein, Maria T. Zuber, and Edward C. Aaron. "Small and lightweight laser retro-reflector arrays for lunar landers." Applied Optics 58, 33 (November 2019): 9259-66 doi 10.1364/AO.58.009259 ©2019 en 10.1364/AO.58.009259 Applied Optics Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf The Optical Society OSA Publishing |
| spellingShingle | Sun, Xiaoli Smith, David Edmund Hoffman, Evan D. Wake, Shane W. Cremons, Daniel R. Mazarico, Erwan Lauenstein, Jean-Marie Zuber, Maria T. Aaron, Edward C. Small and lightweight laser retro-reflector arrays for lunar landers |
| title | Small and lightweight laser retro-reflector arrays for lunar landers |
| title_full | Small and lightweight laser retro-reflector arrays for lunar landers |
| title_fullStr | Small and lightweight laser retro-reflector arrays for lunar landers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Small and lightweight laser retro-reflector arrays for lunar landers |
| title_short | Small and lightweight laser retro-reflector arrays for lunar landers |
| title_sort | small and lightweight laser retro reflector arrays for lunar landers |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/124549 |
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