Optical location of the Moon

Grasyuk, Arkadii Z; Zuev, V. S.; Kokurin, Yu. L.; Kryukov, P. G.; Kurbasov, V. V.; Lobanov, V. F.; Mozhzherin, V. M.; Sukhanovskii, A.; Chernykh, N. S.; Chuvaev, K. K.

doi:10.3367/ufnr.0134.198107e.0526

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Ranges started at the McDonald Observatory in 1969 shortly after the Apollo 11 mission, while in the Soviet Union a sequence of laser ranges was made from the Crimean astrophysical observatory. 2 The two stations that have produced LLR observations routinely for decades are the McDonald Laser Ranging System (MLRS) 86 in the United States and the OCA 96,82 station in France.…”

Section: Lunar Laser Ranging Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

Lunar Laser Ranging Tests of the Equivalence Principle With the Earth and Moon

Williams

Turyshev

Boggs

2009

Int. J. Mod. Phys. D

179

199

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A primary objective of the Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) experiment is to provide precise observations of the lunar orbit that contribute to a wide range of science investigations. In particular, time series of the highly accurate measurements of the distance between the Earth and Moon provide unique information used to determine whether, in accordance with the Equivalence Principle (EP), both of these celestial bodies are falling towards the Sun at the same rate, despite their different masses, compositions, and gravitational selfenergies. 35 years since their initiation, analyses of precision laser ranges to the Moon continue to provide increasingly stringent limits on any violation of the EP. Current LLR solutions give (−1.0 ± 1.4) × 10 −13 for any possible inequality in the ratios of the gravitational and inertial masses for the Earth and Moon, ∆(M G /M I ). This result, in combination with laboratory experiments on the weak equivalence principle, yields a strong equivalence principle (SEP) test of ∆(M G /M I )SEP = (−2.0 ± 2.0) × 10 −13 . Such an accurate result allows other tests of gravitational theories. The result of the SEP test translates into a value for the corresponding SEP violation parameter η of (4.4 ± 4.5) × 10 −4 , where η = 4β − γ − 3 and both γ and β are parametrized post-Newtonian (PPN) parameters. Using the recent result for the parameter γ derived from the radiometric tracking data from the Cassini mission, the PPN parameter β (quantifying the nonlinearity of gravitational superposition) is determined to be β − 1 = (1.2 ± 1.1) × 10 −4 . We also present the history of the lunar laser ranging effort and describe the technique that is being used. Focusing on the tests of the EP, we discuss the existing data, and characterize the modeling and data analysis techniques. The robustness of the LLR solutions is demonstrated with several different approaches that are presented in the text. We emphasize that near-term improvements in the LLR ranging accuracy will further advance the research of relativistic gravity in the solar system, and, most notably, will continue to provide highly accurate tests of the Equivalence Principle.

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Section: Lunar Laser Ranging Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

Lunar Laser Ranging Tests of the Equivalence Principle With the Earth and Moon

Williams

Turyshev

Boggs

2009

Int. J. Mod. Phys. D

179

199

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“…The researchers of the Crimean scientific station of the LPI, in collaboration with French experts, participated in the creation and installation of corner reflectors on both lunar rovers. The accuracy of the measurements, according to the literature was initially 3.0 m. 10,11 It was achieved using a ruby laser with wavelength 694.3 nm, duration of pulse 30 ns and energy 2 J. In subsequent years, automatic control was added and the laser itself was upgraded several times.…”

Section: Short History Of Llr In Craomentioning

confidence: 99%

The 1970–1984 lunar laser ranging observations in the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory

Tryapitsyn

Pavlov

Yagudina

et al. 2021

Journal for the History of Astronomy

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The Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) has been the main method of study of the dynamics of the Sun-Earth-Moon system since 1969 to present. Lunar parts of the three modern high-precision ephemerides of the Solar system bodies are based solely on LLR measurements: DE (USA), EPM (Russia), INPOP (France). LLR measurements allow to determine parameters of lunar orbital and rotational motion, as well as some parameters related to terrestrial and lunar tides, and also fundamental relativistic parameters. Those parameters were determined from LLR with high accuracy by different authors. In USSR, LLR measurements were performed in the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory (CrAO) in Nauchny, on the 2.6 m Shajn’s Zenith telescope (ZTSh) with an automated laser ranging system developed by the Russian Lebedev Physical Institute (LPI). Within the time span of 1969–1984, 1400 measurements were obtained. Unlike LLR measurements done in other observatories, they were eventually forgotten and have not made their way into the dataset that is used by scientists worldwide to build lunar ephemerides and conduct other lunar research. The main reason for writing this paper was the discovery by Tryapitsyn, a researcher at the Katziveli station of CrAO, of old printouts containing the 1970–1984 LLR observations made with the ZTSh 2.6 m telescope. Some details were missing from the printouts, which required careful restoration work. In this paper the history of those LLR observations with surrounding historical events is presented, and some details of the analysis these observations are described. Of particular interest is the finding related to the three normal points of Lunokhod-1 ranges obtained in 1974 that allowed Odile Calame to determine the rover’s position with a few kilometers accuracy. Unfortunately, the accuracy was not sufficient for other researchers to confirm and pin down the location of the rover.

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Optical location of the Moon

Cited by 2 publications

References 1 publication

Lunar Laser Ranging Tests of the Equivalence Principle With the Earth and Moon

Lunar Laser Ranging Tests of the Equivalence Principle With the Earth and Moon

The 1970–1984 lunar laser ranging observations in the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory

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