Apparatus NASA successfully sent a laser beam from lunar orbit to the Indian module Vikram on the Moon. This was a scientific experiment. The laser traveled about hundreds of kilometers to the lunar surface and hit the target, which was only 5 cm in size.
Photo of Vikram from lunar orbit © NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/ Arizona State University
The small cookie-sized target was a retroreflective array placed on the Vikram. The beam reflected from it was again “caught” NASA. This method is usually used to determine the location of satellites. On the Moon, it worked to determine the localization of a stationary object.
© NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
According to mission leader Xiaoli Sun, specialists now have to improve the technique so that a similar method becomes common in future projects.
A team led by Xiaoli Sun developed a retro-reflector for Vikram as part of a partnership program between NASA and ISRO. The device is capable of reflecting light in any direction and requires no power or maintenance, so it can be used to determine the location of the Indian apparatus for decades.
