NASA shot lasers at the Moon orbiter, and one of them finally bounced back

[Mike Wehner]

• Scientists firing lasers at NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter have finally hit a tiny reflective panel on the spacecraft after attempting to nail the mark for roughly a decade.
• The reflector is part of an experiment to understand why reflectors placed on the Moon during the Apollo missions are returning less accurate data than before.
• The Moon is drifting away from Earth at a rate of roughly 1.5 inches per year.

When you gaze up at the Moon in the night sky you probably don't imagine it ever leaving us. It's been around a long time, and it'll continue to remain in orbit around Earth for many centuries to come. However, tiny reflectors placed on the Moon during the Apollo missions has revealed that the Moon is slowly leaving Earth at a rate of around 1.5 inches per year.

But it's not the only sensor that scientists at NASA have been trying to hit with lasers. The other resides on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, and for roughly a decade, NASA's aim just wasn't good enough to hit the mark. That all changed recently when NASA and scientists from France finally received a signal in return.

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NASA shot lasers at the Moon orbiter, and one of them finally bounced back originally appeared on BGR.com on Wed, 12 Aug 2020 at 20:03:13 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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