I read that on one of the lunar missions, astronauts placed a mirror on the moon so that scientists could use a laser to precisely measure the distance from the Earth and see how it changes over time.
Does anyone know who collects this data? Would it be NASA, or is it run by an astronomer at some university? Would the data be freely available to the public? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.
Howdy,
Good question and actually I was looking it up the other day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Laser_Ranging_Experiment
Not the best reference but adequate, however the links at the bottom should bring further information.
Hope this helps!
- Amok
Good question and actually I was looking it up the other day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Laser_Ranging_Experiment
Not the best reference but adequate, however the links at the bottom should bring further information.
Hope this helps!
- Amok
Awesome! I couldn't have asked for a better answer.
The links give me plenty of leads...
Thanks!
And there's even a good explanation of how the mirrors work. I feel dumb because I imagined how difficult it must have been to aim a flat mirror so precisely...
The links give me plenty of leads...
Thanks!
And there's even a good explanation of how the mirrors work. I feel dumb because I imagined how difficult it must have been to aim a flat mirror so precisely...