Earth and Space Science (Mar 2020)

Recent Progress in Lunar Laser Ranging at Grasse Laser Ranging Station

  • Julien Chabé,
  • Clément Courde,
  • Jean‐Marie Torre,
  • Sébastien Bouquillon,
  • Adrien Bourgoin,
  • Mourad Aimar,
  • Dominique Albanèse,
  • Bertrand Chauvineau,
  • Hervé Mariey,
  • Grégoire Martinot‐Lagarde,
  • Nicolas Maurice,
  • Duy‐Hà Phung,
  • Etienne Samain,
  • Hervé Viot

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1029/2019EA000785
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 3
pp. n/a – n/a

Abstract

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Abstract Based on a fully passive space segment, the lunar laser ranging experiment is the last of the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package to operate. Observations from the Grasse lunar laser ranging station have been made on a daily basis since the first echoes obtained in 1981. In this paper, first, we review the principle and the technical aspects of lunar laser ranging. We then give a brief summary of the progress made at the Grasse laser ranging facility (Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, Calern Plateau on the French Riviera) since the first echoes. The current performance, driven by the use of an infrared wavelength laser, is presented in the last section for the year 2018.

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