First two-way laser ranging to a lunar orbiter: infrared observations from the Grasse station to LRO’s retro-reflector array

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dc.contributor.authorMazarico, Erwan
dc.contributor.authorSun, Xiaoli
dc.contributor.authorTorre, Jean-Marie
dc.contributor.authorCourde, Clément
dc.contributor.authorChabé, Julien
dc.contributor.authorAimar, Mourad
dc.contributor.authorMariey, Hervé
dc.contributor.authorMaurice, Nicolas
dc.contributor.authorBarker, Michael K.
dc.contributor.authorMao, Dandan
dc.contributor.authorCremons, Daniel R.
dc.contributor.authorBouquillon, Sébastien
dc.contributor.authorCarlucci, Teddy
dc.contributor.authorViswanathan, Vishnu
dc.contributor.authorLemoine, Frank G.
dc.contributor.authorBourgoin, Adrien
dc.contributor.authorExertier, Pierre
dc.contributor.authorNeumann, Gregory A.
dc.contributor.authorZube, Maria T.
dc.contributor.authorSmith, David E.
dc.date.accessioned2020-08-26T17:39:01Z
dc.date.available2020-08-26T17:39:01Z
dc.date.issued2020-08-06
dc.description.abstractWe present the results of the first series of successful two-way laser ranging experiments from a ground station, the Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) station in Grasse, France, to a spacecraft at lunar distance, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). A 15 × 18 × 5 cm, 650-g array of twelve 32-mm diameter solid corner cubes is mounted on its anti-nadir deck. Ranging to this small retro-reflector array onboard a lunar orbiter from a ground station was a challenge compared to ranging to larger lunar surface retro-reflectors. Grasse measured 67 returns in two 6-min sessions on September 4, 2018. Clear returns were also recorded during two additional sessions on August 23–24, 2019 for which active slewing by LRO was performed to bring the array in view of the station. The measured echos yielded range residuals less than 3 cm (two-way time-of-flight RMS < 180 ps) relative to the reconstructed LRO trajectory. This experiment provides a new method of verifying theories of dust accumulation over decades on the lunar surface. It also showed that the use of similar arrays onboard future lunar landers and orbiters can support LLR lunar science goals, particularly with landing sites near the lunar limbs and poles, which would have better sensitivity to lunar orientation.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipWe thank the LRO Operations team and the LRO Project for their support of this experiment. We also thank Mr. E. Aaron of KBRWyle for the fabrication of the LRA on LRO, and Mr. S. Wake for the optical testing of the LRA at GSFC. This work was supported by the NASA LRO Project, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique-Institut National des Sciences de l’Univers (CNRS-INSU), and the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES). This work was also supported by the LABEX Cluster of Excellence FIRST-TF (ANR-10-LABX-48-01), within the Program “Investissements d’Avenir” operated by the French National Research Agency (ANR).en_US
dc.description.urihttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40623-020-01243-wen_US
dc.format.extent14 pagesen_US
dc.genrejournal articlesen_US
dc.identifierdoi:10.13016/m2r33d-uaqs
dc.identifier.citationMazarico, E., Sun, X., Torre, J. et al. First two-way laser ranging to a lunar orbiter: infrared observations from the Grasse station to LRO’s retro-reflector array. Earth Planets Space 72, 113 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40623-020-01243-wen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1186/s40623-020-01243-w
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11603/19523
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherSpringer Natureen_US
dc.relation.isAvailableAtThe University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Center for Space Sciences and Technology
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Student Collection
dc.rightsThis item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author.
dc.rightsAttribution 4.0 International*
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/*
dc.titleFirst two-way laser ranging to a lunar orbiter: infrared observations from the Grasse station to LRO’s retro-reflector arrayen_US
dc.typeTexten_US

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