MoonLIGHT and MPAc: The European Space Agency's Next-Generation Lunar Laser Retroreflector for NASA's CLPS/PRISM1A (CP-11) Mission

被引：0

作者：

Muccino, Marco ^{[1
,2
]}

Montanari, Michele ^{[1
]}

Lauretani, Rudi ^{[1
]}

Castro, Alejandro Remujo ^{[1
]}

Rubino, Laura ^{[1
]}

Denni, Ubaldo ^{[1
]}

Rodriquez, Raffaele ^{[1
]}

Salvatori, Lorenzo ^{[1
]}

Tibuzzi, Mattia ^{[1
]}

Filomena, Luciana ^{[1
]}

Mauro, Lorenza ^{[1
]}

Currie, Douglas ^{[3
]}

Bargiacchi, Giada ^{[1
,4
]}

Battista, Emmanuele ^{[1
,5
]}

Capozziello, Salvatore ^{[4
,5
,6
]}

Maiello, Mauro ^{[1
]}

Porcelli, Luca ^{[1
]}

Delle Monache, Giovanni ^{[1
]}

Dell'Agnello, Simone ^{[1
]}

机构：

[1] Ist Nazl Fis Nucleare, Lab Nazl Frascati INFN LNF, Via E Fermi 54,Gia 40,POB 13, I-00044 Frascati, RM, Italy

[2] Aerotecno Srl, Via Dei Savorelli 3, I-00165 Rome, RM, Italy

[3] Univ Maryland UMD, College Pk, MD 20742 USA

[4] Scuola Super Meridionale, Largo S Marcellino 10, I-80138 Naples, NA, Italy

[5] Ist Nazl Fis Nucleare, Sez Napoli INFN NA, Via Cintia Snc, I-80126 Naples, NA, Italy

[6] Univ Napoli Federico II, Complesso Univ Monte S Angelo, Dipartimento Fis E Pancini, Via Cinthia Snc, I-80126 Naples, NA, Italy

来源：

REMOTE SENSING | 2025年 / 17卷 / 05期

关键词：

lunar laser ranging; lunar laser retroreflector; robotic actuator for the Moon; PHYSICS; MOON;

D O I：

10.3390/rs17050813

中图分类号：

X [环境科学、安全科学];

学科分类号：

08 ; 0830 ;

摘要：

Since 1969, 55 years ago, Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) has provided accurate and precise (down to similar to 1 cm RMS) measurements of the Moon's orbit thanks to the Apollo and Lunokhod Cube Corner Retroreflector (CCR) Laser Retroreflector Arrays (LRAs) deployed on the Moon. Nowadays, the current level of precision of these measurements is largely limited by the lunar librations affecting the old generation of LRAs. To improve this situation, next-generation libration-free retroreflectors are necessary. To this end, the Satellite/lunar/GNSS laser ranging/altimetry and cube/microsat Characterization Facilities Laboratory (SCF_Lab) at the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare-Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati (INFN-LNF), in collaboration with the University of Maryland (UMD) and supported by the Italian Space Agency (ASI), developed MoonLIGHT (Moon Laser Instrumentation for General relativity High-accuracy Tests), a single large CCR with a front face diameter of 100 mm, nominally unaffected by librations, and with optical performances comparable to the Apollo/Lunokhod LRAs of CCRs. Such a big CCR (hereafter, ML100) is mounted into a specifically devised, designed, and manufactured robotic actuator, funded by the European Space Agency (ESA), the so-called MoonLIGHT Pointing Actuator (MPAc), which, once its host craft has landed on the Moon, will finely align the front face of the ML100 towards the Earth. The (optical) performances of such a piece of hardware, MoonLIGHT+MPAc, were tested in/by the SCF_Lab in order to ensure that it was space flight ready before its integration onto the deck of the host craft. After its successful deployment on the Moon, additional and better-quality LLR data (down to similar to 1 mm RMS or better for the contribution of the laser retroreflector instrument, MoonLIGHT, to the total LLR error budget) will be available to the community for future and enhanced tests of gravitational theories.

引用

页数：12