Related papers: Space-based tests of gravity with laser ranging
Current and future optical technologies will aid exploration of the Moon and Mars while advancing fundamental physics research in the solar system. Technologies and possible improvements in the laser-enabled tests of various physical…
More precise lunar and Martian ranging will enable unprecedented tests of Einstein's theory of General Relativity and well as lunar and planetary science. NASA is currently planning several missions to return to the Moon, and it is natural…
In 1859, Le Verrier discovered the Mercury perihelion advance anomaly. This anomaly turned out to be the first relativistic-gravity effect observed. During the 157 years to 2016, the precisions and accuracies of laboratory and space…
For testing gravity and detecting gravitational waves in space, deep-space laser ranging using drag-free spacecraft is a common method. Deep space provides a large arena and a long integration time. Laser technology provides measurement…
The Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) experiment provides precise observations of the lunar orbit that contribute to a wide range of science investigations. In particular, time series of highly accurate measurements of the distance between the…
Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) measurements are crucial for advanced exploration of the laws of fundamental gravitational physics and geophysics. Current LLR technology allows us to measure distances to the Moon with a precision approaching 1…
It is suggested that modern techniques of radio ranging when applied to study the motion of the Moon, can improve the accuracy of tests of relativistic gravitation obtained with currently operating laser ranging techniques. Other auxillary…
Lunar laser ranging (LLR) is used to conduct high-precision measurements of ranges between an observatory on Earth and a laser retro-reflector on the lunar surface. Over the years, LLR has benefited from a number of improvements both in…
Lunar laser ranging has provided many of the best tests of gravitation since the first Apollo astronauts landed on the Moon. The march to higher precision continues to this day, now entering the millimeter regime, and promising continued…
This paper addresses the motivation, technology and recent results in the tests of the general theory of relativity (GR) in the solar system. We specifically discuss Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR), the only technique available to test the Strong…
More than 30 years of lunar laser ranging has produced several key tests of gravitational theory, including confirmation that bodies fall in external gravity at rates independent of their internal gravitational binding energy, and that…
Satellite laser-ranging is successfully used in space geodesy, geodynamics and Earth sciences; and to test fundamental physics and specific features of General Relativity. We present a confirmation to approximately one part in a billion of…
In this paper the most recent developments in testing General Relativity in the gravitational field of the Earth with the technique of Satellite Laser Ranging are presented. In particular, we concentrate our attention on some…
Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) measurements are crucial for advanced exploration of the evolutionary history of the lunar orbit, the laws of fundamental gravitational physics, selenophysics and geophysics as well as for future human missions to…
Accurate analysis of precision ranges to the Moon has provided several tests of gravitational theory including the Equivalence Principle, geodetic precession, parameterized post-Newtonian (PPN) parameters $\gamma$ and $\beta$, and the…
A primary objective of the Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) experiment is to provide precise observations of the lunar orbit that contribute to a wide range of science investigations. Time series of the highly accurate measurements of the distance…
Analyses of laser ranges to the Moon provide increasingly stringent limits on any violation of the Equivalence Principle (EP); they also enable several very accurate tests of relativistic gravity. We report the results of our recent…
The Laser Ranging Interferometer onboard the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On mission proved the feasibility of an interferometric sensor for inter-satellite length tracking with sub-nanometer precision, establishing an…
This paper discusses new Fundamental physics experiment that will test relativistic gravity at the accuracy better than the effects of the second order in the gravitational field strength, ~G^2. The Laser Astrometric Test Of Relativity…
Laser pulses fired at retroreflectors on the Moon provide very accurate ranges. Analysis yields information on Earth, Moon, and orbit. The highly accurate retroreflector positions have uncertainties less than a meter. Tides on the Moon show…