Guidelines

How many Retroreflectors are on the Moon?

How many Retroreflectors are on the Moon?

Retroreflectors are devices which reflect light back to its source. Five were left at five sites on the Moon by three crews of the Apollo program and two remote landers of the Lunokhod program….Successfully placed reflectors.

Operator NASA
Mission Apollo 11
Name LRRR
Date 21 July 1969
Location Mare Tranquillitatis

What does a RetroReflector do?

Retroreflectors are used in transportation systems as unlighted night-time roadway and waterway markers, as well as in numerous optical systems, including lunar ranging. Some are made of relatively inexpensive plastic pieces or flexible plastic sheeting, and some are made of high-priced precision optics.

Is there still a mirror on the Moon?

An experiment, begun when Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin left a mirror on the lunar surface 40 years ago to allow Earth-based astronomers to fire lasers at it, has been ended by American science chiefs.

What are the mirrors on the Moon?

Those small mirrors, called laser retroflectors, probably don’t reflect much sunlight, but they do reflect a laser beam from observaties around the world. With the photons from that laser returned and captured by those observatories, researchers have learned a lot about the Moon, and the Earth.

Are there any retroreflectors on the Moon now?

The Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment from the Apollo 11 mission. This is a list of retroreflectors on the Moon, special devices left at five sites on the Moon by three crews of the Apollo program and two remote landers of the Lunokhod program. Lunar reflectors have enabled precise measurement of the Earth–Moon distance since 1969.

When was the retroreflector array installed on Apollo 11?

Greater accuracy was achieved following the installation of a retroreflector array on July 21, 1969, by the crew of Apollo 11, and two more retroreflector arrays left by the Apollo 14 and Apollo 15 missions have also contributed to the experiment.

What can a retroreflector be used for?

Retroreflectors are in tail-light covers (feel the sharp bumps on the inside of one), bike reflectors, and in paints for road signs (very tiny crystals). The Apollo 11 retroreflector array, consisting of 100 corner-cube prisms in a 10×10 array.

How are the reflectors on the Moon used?

Lunar reflectors have enabled precise measurement of the Earth–Moon distance since 1969 using lunar laser ranging. / 0.6734; 23.4731 / 38.3152; -35.0080