Solar System Exploration Division

Lunar Reconaissance Orbiter Laser Ranging Experiment and Support (LRO-LR)

Class:

Data Centers

Status:

Past

Organizations:

WEBSITE:

The objective of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Laser Ranging (LR) system is to enable the spacecraft to achieve its precision orbit determination requirement. The LR will make one-way range measurements via laser pulse time-of-flight from Earth and will determine the position of the spacecraft at a sub-meter level with respect to Earth and the center of mass of the Moon. Ranging will occur whenever LRO is visible in the line of sight from participating Earth ground tracking stations. CDDIS, in its role as an archive of SLR data, is supporting the laser ranging experiment to the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) instrument on-board LRO using select laser ranging stations in the International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS, http://ilrs.gsfc.nasa.gov) network.

      laser moon