Extending Science from Lunar Laser Ranging

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearch

Authors

  • Vishnu Viswanathan
  • Erwan Mazarico
  • Stephen Merkowitz
  • James G. Williams
  • Slava G. Turyshev
  • Douglas G. Currie
  • Anton I. Ermakov
  • Nicolas Rambaux
  • Agnès Fienga
  • Clément Courde
  • Julien Chabé
  • Jean-Marie Torre
  • Adrien Bourgoin
  • Ulrich Schreiber
  • Thomas M. Eubanks
  • Chensheng Wu
  • Daniele Dequal
  • Simone Dell'Agnello
  • Liliane Biskupek
  • Jürgen Müller
  • Sergei Kopeikin

Research Organisations

External Research Organisations

  • NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA-GSFC)
  • University of Maryland
  • University of California at Berkeley
  • Observatoire de Paris (OBSPARIS)
  • Observatoire Côte d'Azur
  • University of Bologna
  • Technical University of Munich (TUM)
  • Space Initiatives Inc.
  • Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI)
  • Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN)
  • University of Missouri
  • Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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Details

Original languageEnglish
JournalBulletin of the AAS
Volume53
Issue number4
Publication statusPublished - 21 Aug 2020

Abstract

The Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) experiment has accumulated 50 years of range data of improving accuracy from ground stations to the laser retroreflector arrays (LRAs) on the lunar surface. The upcoming decade offers several opportunities to break new ground in data precision through the deployment of the next generation of single corner-cube lunar retroreflectors and active laser transponders. This is likely to expand the LLR station network. Lunar dynamical models and analysis tools have the potential to improve and fully exploit the long temporal baseline and precision allowed by millimetric LLR data. Some of the model limitations are outlined for future efforts. Differential observation techniques will help mitigate some of the primary limiting factors and reach unprecedented accuracy. Such observations and techniques may enable the detection of several subtle signatures required to understand the dynamics of the Earth-Moon system and the deep lunar interior. LLR model improvements would impact multi-disciplinary fields that include lunar and planetary science, Earth science, fundamental physics, celestial mechanics and ephemerides.

Keywords

    astro-ph.IM, astro-ph.EP, gr-qc, physics.data-an, physics.geo-ph

Cite this

Extending Science from Lunar Laser Ranging. / Viswanathan, Vishnu; Mazarico, Erwan; Merkowitz, Stephen et al.
In: Bulletin of the AAS, Vol. 53, No. 4, 21.08.2020.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearch

Viswanathan, V, Mazarico, E, Merkowitz, S, Williams, JG, Turyshev, SG, Currie, DG, Ermakov, AI, Rambaux, N, Fienga, A, Courde, C, Chabé, J, Torre, J-M, Bourgoin, A, Schreiber, U, Eubanks, TM, Wu, C, Dequal, D, Dell'Agnello, S, Biskupek, L, Müller, J & Kopeikin, S 2020, 'Extending Science from Lunar Laser Ranging', Bulletin of the AAS, vol. 53, no. 4. https://doi.org/10.3847/25c2cfeb.3dc2e5e4
Viswanathan, V., Mazarico, E., Merkowitz, S., Williams, J. G., Turyshev, S. G., Currie, D. G., Ermakov, A. I., Rambaux, N., Fienga, A., Courde, C., Chabé, J., Torre, J.-M., Bourgoin, A., Schreiber, U., Eubanks, T. M., Wu, C., Dequal, D., Dell'Agnello, S., Biskupek, L., ... Kopeikin, S. (2020). Extending Science from Lunar Laser Ranging. Bulletin of the AAS, 53(4). https://doi.org/10.3847/25c2cfeb.3dc2e5e4
Viswanathan V, Mazarico E, Merkowitz S, Williams JG, Turyshev SG, Currie DG et al. Extending Science from Lunar Laser Ranging. Bulletin of the AAS. 2020 Aug 21;53(4). doi: 10.3847/25c2cfeb.3dc2e5e4
Viswanathan, Vishnu ; Mazarico, Erwan ; Merkowitz, Stephen et al. / Extending Science from Lunar Laser Ranging. In: Bulletin of the AAS. 2020 ; Vol. 53, No. 4.
Download
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abstract = "The Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) experiment has accumulated 50 years of range data of improving accuracy from ground stations to the laser retroreflector arrays (LRAs) on the lunar surface. The upcoming decade offers several opportunities to break new ground in data precision through the deployment of the next generation of single corner-cube lunar retroreflectors and active laser transponders. This is likely to expand the LLR station network. Lunar dynamical models and analysis tools have the potential to improve and fully exploit the long temporal baseline and precision allowed by millimetric LLR data. Some of the model limitations are outlined for future efforts. Differential observation techniques will help mitigate some of the primary limiting factors and reach unprecedented accuracy. Such observations and techniques may enable the detection of several subtle signatures required to understand the dynamics of the Earth-Moon system and the deep lunar interior. LLR model improvements would impact multi-disciplinary fields that include lunar and planetary science, Earth science, fundamental physics, celestial mechanics and ephemerides.",
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AU - Viswanathan, Vishnu

AU - Mazarico, Erwan

AU - Merkowitz, Stephen

AU - Williams, James G.

AU - Turyshev, Slava G.

AU - Currie, Douglas G.

AU - Ermakov, Anton I.

AU - Rambaux, Nicolas

AU - Fienga, Agnès

AU - Courde, Clément

AU - Chabé, Julien

AU - Torre, Jean-Marie

AU - Bourgoin, Adrien

AU - Schreiber, Ulrich

AU - Eubanks, Thomas M.

AU - Wu, Chensheng

AU - Dequal, Daniele

AU - Dell'Agnello, Simone

AU - Biskupek, Liliane

AU - Müller, Jürgen

AU - Kopeikin, Sergei

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