Related papers: Laser Ranging to the Moon, Mars and Beyond
The laws of gravitation have been tested for a long time with steadily improving precision, leading at some moment of time to paradigmatic evolutions. Pursuing this continual effort is of great importance for science. In this communication,…
In order to avoid collisions with space debris, the near Earth orbit must be continuously scanned by either ground- or spaced-based facilities. For the low Earth orbit, radar telescopes are the workhorse for this task, especially due to…
According to very recent developments of the LARES mission, which would be devoted to the measurement of the general relativistic Lense--Thirring effect in the gravitational field of the Earth with Satellite Laser Ranging, it seems that the…
During the past century Einstein's theory of General Relativity gave rise to an experimental triumph, however, there are still aspects of this theory to be measured or more accurately tested. One of the main challenges in experimental…
We present constraints on violations of Lorentz Invariance based on Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) data. LLR measures the Earth-Moon separation by timing the round-trip travel of light between the two bodies, and is currently accurate to a few…
Space debris is a major problem for all space-active nations. Adopting high precision measuring techniques will help to produce the reliable and accurate catalogue for space debris and collision avoidance. Laser Ranging is a kind of…
Lunar laser ranging provides a number of leading experimental tests of gravitation -- important in our quest to unify General Relativity and the Standard Model of physics. The Apache Point Observatory Lunar Laser-ranging Operation (APOLLO)…
We deal with the attempts to measure the Lense-Thirring effect with the Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) technique applied to the existing LAGEOS and LAGEOS II terrestrial satellites and to the recently approved LARES spacecraft.The first…
The standard-model extension (SME) is an effective field theory framework aiming at parametrizing any violation to the Lorentz symmetry (LS) in all sectors of physics. In this Letter, we report the first direct experimental measurement of…
The Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway (LOP-Gateway, or simply Gateway) is a crewed platform that will be assembled and operated in the vicinity of the Moon by NASA and international partner organizations, including ESA, starting from the…
We present the first constraints on pure-gravity sector Standard-Model Extension (SME) parameters using Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR). LLR measures the round trip travel time of light between the Earth and the Moon. With 34+ years of LLR data,…
Whereas considerable effort has been afforded in understanding the properties of galaxies, a full physical picture, connecting their baryonic and dark-matter content, super-massive black holes, and (metric) theories of gravity, is still…
Exploration of terrestrial planets such as Mars are conducted using orbiters, landers and rovers. Cameras and instruments onboard orbiters have enabled global mapping of Mars at low spatial resolution. Landers and rovers such as the Mars…
The next generation of space-based experiments will go hunting for answers to cosmology's key open questions which revolve around inflation, dark matter and dark energy. Low earth orbit and lunar missions within the European Space Agency's…
The space challenges do exist at every stride on a human expedition to Mars that arise due to galactic natural phenomena and artificial technologies. This paper emphasizes on Mars orbital and planetary challenges encountered from orbit to…
Recent years have seen tremendous progress in our understanding of the cosmos, which in turn points to even deeper questions to be further addressed. Concurrently the laser technology has undergone dramatic revolutions, providing exciting…
Relativistic positioning systems are interesting {\em technical objects} for applications around the Earth and in the Solar system. But above all else, they are basic {\em scientific objects} allowing developing relativity from its own…
The prospect of mankind returning to the Moon has garnered a great amount of attention in recent years. Dozens of lunar missions are planned for the coming decade which will require the development of a sustainable communication…
The paper discusses the optimal conguration of one or more ring lasers to be used for measuring the general relativistic effects of the rotation of the earth, as manifested on the surface of the planet. The analysis is focused on devices…
Atomic clocks, masers, and other precision oscillators are likely to be placed on the International Space Station and other satellites in the future. These instruments will have the potential to measure Lorentz-violation coefficients, and…