AbstractWe numerically examined various retroreflectors as laser ranging targets for future missions to the Moon. The geometric conditions, such as the angle of incidence and velocity aberration, with lunar targets are much more restricted than those with most of the earth-orbiting artificial satellites. The numerical optical response simulation carried out in this study indicates that a single retroreflector with a diameter of 150–250mm performs similar to the existing Apollo retroreflector arrays. Further, no dihedral angle is required for small retroreflectors with diameters below 150mm for uncoated ones and below 100mm for coated and hollow ones. Retroreflectors with larger diameters require dihedral angles of 0.20, 0.25, and 0.35arcsec for coated, uncoated and hollow types, respectively. The objective of this fundamental study is to underlie the development of future laser ranging targets that are to be placed on the Moon.
Simulation of optical response of retroreflectors for future lunar laser ranging
Advances in Space Research ; 45 , 6 ; 733-740
2009-12-05
8 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
Simulation of optical response of retroreflectors for future lunar laser ranging
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