Abstract
Radar methods have for the past two decades been applied with considerable success to the study of the Moon [1] and planets. The resulting distance determinations have been especially interesting because radar measures distance (albeit in light-seconds rather than in meters) more directly than and independently of the classical astronomical triangulation methods. In addition to yielding precise distances, detailed examination of the reflected energy has revealed facts about the nature and motion of the reflecting objects not obtainable in any other way. This has been true even though the radar beams used have been too broad to appreciably resolve even the Moon. Success has resulted rather from the skillful application of pulse and Doppler data processing techniques. The possibility of extending radar astronomy to optical wavelengths, where angular resolution characteristic of optical astronomical telescopes might be expected, attracted attention almost as soon as the invention of the laser light source suggested such a possibility. This extension is now becoming a practical reality.
This report is based on a study sponsored by the Geodesy Branch of the Terrestrial Sciences Laboratory, Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories through contract AF 19 (628)-5172.
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Julian, R.S. (1967). Investigating the Moon’s Motion by Laser Ranging. In: Measure of the Moon. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 8. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-3529-3_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-3529-3_17
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