Abstract
Lunar and satellite laser ranging (LLR/SLR) are consolidated techniques which provide a precise, and at the same time, cost-effective method to determine the orbits of the Moon and of satellites equipped with laser retroreflectors with respect to the International Celestial Reference System. We describe the precision tests of general relativity and of new theories of gravity that can be performed with second-generation LLR payloads on the surface of the Moon (NASA/ASI MoonLIGHT project), and with SLR/LLR payloads deployed on spacecraft in the Earth–Moon system. A new wave of lunar exploration and lunar science started in 2007–2008 with the launch of three missions (Chang’e by China, Kaguya by Japan, Chandrayaan by India), missions in preparation (LCROSS, LRO, GRAIL/LADEE by NASA) and other proposed missions (like MAGIA in Italy). This research activity will be greatly enhanced by the future robotic deployment of a lunar geophysics network (LGN) on the surface of the Moon. A scientific concept of the latter is the International Lunar Network (ILN, see http://iln.arc.nasa.gov/). The LLR retroreflector payload developed by a US–Italy team described here and under space qualification at the National Laboratories of Frascati (LNF) is the optimum candidate for the LGN, which will be populated in the future by any lunar landing mission.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Ryan Heller, Griffin Hosseinzadeh (DOE/INFN Summer Exchange Program for 2012), and Chiara Mondaini for the English revision of this chapter.
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Martini, M., Dell’Agnello, S. (2016). Probing Gravity with Next Generation Lunar Laser Ranging. In: Peron, R., Colpi, M., Gorini, V., Moschella, U. (eds) Gravity: Where Do We Stand?. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20224-2_5
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