Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
1782054 | Planetary and Space Science | 2009 | 6 Pages |
Abstract
We have designed and built a compact demonstrator unit for the investigation of altimetry and transponder applications. A small light-weight breadboard carries a compact frequency doubled Nd:YAG pulse laser, an afocal beam expansion optics, a small receiver telescope with spectral and spatial filter arrangements and a sensitive photo-detector. The output laser energy can be as high as 45Â mJ with a pulse-width of 3Â ns and the telescope aperture is 10Â cm. Simulations [Degnan, J.J., 2006. Simulating interplanetary transponder and laser communications experiments via dual station ranging to SLR satellites. In: Proceedings of the 15th International Workshop on Laser Ranging, Canberra, Australia, pp. 457-462] suggested that the link margin for low Earth orbiting satellites (LEO) is comfortable. Successful satellite laser ranging from this dual-station experiment in several different configurations was achieved up to the MEO orbit in a 10 day provisional installation.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Earth and Planetary Sciences
Geophysics
Authors
K.U. Schreiber, M. Hiener, B. Holzapfel, H. Michaelis, N. Brandl, K.-H. Haufe, P. Lauber, A. Neidhardt,