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September 29, 2009 02:29 PM
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Laser Ranging Telescope.
http://stardate.org/images/gallery/iotw_20090717.jpg
No, it is not possible to detect the beam on the moon by sight, but there is a device on Earth that verifies the laser signal returning from the moon.
There is a laser device in the McDonald Observatory Laser Ranging Station near Fort Davis, Texas, which regularly sends a laser beam through an optical telescope to try to hit a reflector left in the moon by the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. The reflector is a mosaic of 100 glass half-cubes, an experiment left on the lunar surface 40 years ago which still continues to return valuable data about our satellite.
This reflector requires no power and is still functioning perfectly. It is far too small to be seen from Earth. Even when the beam is correctly aligned in the telescope, actually hitting a lunar reflector is quite challenging. At the Moon's surface the laser beam is a little over a kilometre-and-a-half wide! The reflected light is too weak to be seen with the human eye.
The pulses of laser light fired from the Laser Ranging Station on Earth are reflected by the lunar laser ranging reflector and a tiny bit of its light will return to the telescope. The idea was to determine the round-trip travel time of a laser pulse from the Earth to the Moon and back again, thereby calculating the distance between the two with incredible accuracy.
The data gathered has shown that the Moon is receding from Earth at about 3.8 centimetres (1.5 inches) every year. Scientists now know the average distance between the centres of the Earth and the Moon is 385,000 kilometres (239,000 miles). This level of accuracy represents one of the most precise distance measurements ever made.
McDonald Observatory Laser Ranging Station.
http://theprobs.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Figure-11.JPG
Apollo 11 mission ranging reflector.
http://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a11LRRR5952.jpg
Source(s):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/399468.stm
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A: That's an odd question.
The way you've worded the question, it reads like you're saying that on the moon, there is a laser beam emitter, based on the moon, and you want to know how is one to detect the laser beam produced by that moon-based emitter...???
Are you sure you're not thinking of the laser-beam *reflector* that astronaughts left behind?
Q: Is there a device on earth that verifies the laser device signal from the moon?
A: Yes there are devices on earth that would be able to detects laser beams emitted from a laser-beam emitter planted on the moon, but there's no laser beam *emitter* on the moon.
I think you're talking about the laser beam *reflector* that austronaughts left behind in order to reflect laser beams sent from earth, right?
If that's what you're talking about, then yes, it's still operational.
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davepamn
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Is it possible to detect the laser beam on the moon?
Is there a device on earth that verifies the laser device signal from the moon?
Is the device still operational?
Is the device still operational?
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| September 29, 2009 03:52 PM |
http://stardate.org/images/gallery/iotw_20090717.jpg
No, it is not possible to detect the beam on the moon by sight, but there is a device on Earth that verifies the laser signal returning from the moon.
There is a laser device in the McDonald Observatory Laser Ranging Station near Fort Davis, Texas, which regularly sends a laser beam through an optical telescope to try to hit a reflector left in the moon by the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. The reflector is a mosaic of 100 glass half-cubes, an experiment left on the lunar surface 40 years ago which still continues to return valuable data about our satellite.
This reflector requires no power and is still functioning perfectly. It is far too small to be seen from Earth. Even when the beam is correctly aligned in the telescope, actually hitting a lunar reflector is quite challenging. At the Moon's surface the laser beam is a little over a kilometre-and-a-half wide! The reflected light is too weak to be seen with the human eye.
The pulses of laser light fired from the Laser Ranging Station on Earth are reflected by the lunar laser ranging reflector and a tiny bit of its light will return to the telescope. The idea was to determine the round-trip travel time of a laser pulse from the Earth to the Moon and back again, thereby calculating the distance between the two with incredible accuracy.
The data gathered has shown that the Moon is receding from Earth at about 3.8 centimetres (1.5 inches) every year. Scientists now know the average distance between the centres of the Earth and the Moon is 385,000 kilometres (239,000 miles). This level of accuracy represents one of the most precise distance measurements ever made.
McDonald Observatory Laser Ranging Station.
http://theprobs.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Figure-11.JPG
Apollo 11 mission ranging reflector.
http://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a11LRRR5952.jpg
Source(s):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/399468.stm
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Other Answers (1)
September 29, 2009 04:27 PM
Q: Is it possible to detect the laser beam on the moon? A: That's an odd question.
The way you've worded the question, it reads like you're saying that on the moon, there is a laser beam emitter, based on the moon, and you want to know how is one to detect the laser beam produced by that moon-based emitter...???
Are you sure you're not thinking of the laser-beam *reflector* that astronaughts left behind?
Q: Is there a device on earth that verifies the laser device signal from the moon?
A: Yes there are devices on earth that would be able to detects laser beams emitted from a laser-beam emitter planted on the moon, but there's no laser beam *emitter* on the moon.
I think you're talking about the laser beam *reflector* that austronaughts left behind in order to reflect laser beams sent from earth, right?
If that's what you're talking about, then yes, it's still operational.
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davepamn
September 29, 2009 07:19 PM
Your right, the moon has a reflector and the laser beam emits from a device on the earth.
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