Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_retroreflectors_on_the_Moon
The locations of lunar retroreflectors left by Apollo (A) and Luna (L) missions.
Retroreflectors are devices which reflect light back to its source. Seven retroreflectors were left at seven sites on the Moon by three crews of the Apollo program, two by remote landers of the Lunokhod program, one by the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program and one by the Chandrayaan program.[1] Lunar reflectors have enabled precise measurement of the Earth–Moon distance since 1969 using lunar laser ranging.[2]
There have been several additional attempts to land retroreflectors on the lunar surface which were unsuccessful, and several future attempts are planned.
Successfully placed reflectors[edit]
Attempted and planned reflectors[edit]
Apollo 11 Lunar Laser Ranging Retroreflector
Close-up of Apollo 15 retroreflector
Model of Lunokhod 2. The retroreflector is the hexagonal box with open lid in the front.
Lunar Laser Ranging experiment
List of artificial objects on the Moon
List of missions to the Moon
^ Jump up to: a b c Lunar Retroreflectors
^ Slava G. Turyshev: From Quantum to Cosmos: Fundamental Physics Research in Space (2009), p. 300
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^ Newman, Michael E. (26 September 2017). "To the Moon and Back … in 2.5 Seconds". NIST. Archived from the original on 27 July 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
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^ "Lost Soviet Reflecting Device Rediscovered on the Moon". Space.com. 27 April 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
^ "LROC Observation M114185541R". Arizona State University. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
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^ "USSR – Luna 17".
^ "Apollo 14: The Eighth Mission: The Third Lunar Landing: 31 January–09 February 1971". National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Archived from the original on 14 November 2004. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
^ Archinal, Brent (13 April 2010). "The Apollo 15 Lunar Laser Ranging Retroreflector – A Fundamental Point on the Moon!". Arizona State University. Archived from the original on 13 January 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
^ "USSR – Luna 21".
^ "NASA – NSSDCA – Spacecraft – Details". nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
^ "Chandrayaan 3 – LRA".
^ "Chandrayaan-3". ISRO. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
^ Dhillon, Amrit (23 August 2023). "India lands spacecraft near south pole of moon in historic first". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
^ "Laser Instrument on NASA's LRO Successfully 'Pings' Indian Moon Lander". Retrieved 30 January 2024.
^ "Instrument on Chandrayaan-3 lander started serving as a location marker near lunar south pole". Retrieved 30 January 2024.
^ "Blue Ghost Mission 1 (Firefly)". nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
^ "Blue Ghost Mission 1". Firefly Aerospace. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
^ "Next Gen Retroreflectors Launch to the Moon - UMD Physics". umdphysics.umd.edu. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
^ "Next Generation Lunar Retroreflector (NGLR)". NASA.
^ Beresheet crash caused by manual command, but reflector device may have survived. Georgina Torbet, Digital Trends. 21 April 2019.
^ Warner, Cheryl (10 April 2019). "Update on First Private Robotic Spacecraft Attempt at Moon Landing". NASA. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
^ Israeli spacecraft Beresheet crash site spotted on moon, 15 May 2019
^ "Vikram lander located on lunar surface, wasn't a soft landing: Isro". The Times of India. 8 September 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
^ Bartels, Meghan (24 March 2019). "How NASA Scrambled to Add Science Experiments to Israeli, Indian Moon Probes". Retrieved 25 March 2019.
^ Internatioinal Lunar Observatory to offer a new astrophysical perspective. Tonasz Nowakowski. Spaceflight Insider. 12 August 2017.
^ UMD, Italy & MoonEx Join to Put New Laser-Reflecting Arrays on Moon Archived 22 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Lee Tune, University of Maryland. 10 June 2015.
^ Jump up to: a b Etherington, Darrell (23 January 2020). "NASA reveals the payloads for the first commercial moon cargo deliveries". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
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^ "NASA - NSSDCA - Spacecraft - Details". nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
^ "Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft crashes into the moon, ending its bid to reach the lunar south pole". Associated Press. 20 August 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
^ "Intuitive Machines-1 Orbital Debris Assessment Report (ODAR) Revision 1.1" (PDF). Intuitive Machines. FCC. 22 April 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
Archived URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_retroreflectors_on_the_Moon
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