For the very first time, a laser beam was successfully transmitted and reflected between a NASA spacecraft orbiting the moon and a small device on ISRO’s Vikram lander. This groundbreaking experiment paves the way for a new method of precisely locating targets on the lunar surface.
Utilizing laser pulses to determine the exact location of a stationary object from a moving spacecraft has numerous potential applications on the moon, according to scientists. This innovative technique has been demonstrated by the team at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, who developed the retroreflector on Vikram in collaboration with ISRO.
The retroreflector, known as a Laser Retroreflector Array, is a small yet robust device with eight quartz-corner-cube prisms set into a dome-shaped aluminum frame. It is designed to reflect light back to its source and can endure for decades without requiring power or maintenance.
Retroreflectors have been used for various scientific and exploratory purposes, including measuring the moon’s distance from Earth. The successful transmission of the laser beam marks a significant milestone in lunar exploration and opens up new possibilities for future missions.
2024-01-21 00:41:03
Source from phys.org