All Questions
3
questions
2
votes
1
answer
188
views
When they shoot lasers at the Moon for ranging, what is the shape of the beam?
Laser ranging of the Moon is usually done with a Q-switched pulsed laser fed into a big (1 or 2 meter diameter) telescope as a collimator in order to get a tight beam all the way to the Moon in hopes ...
- 149k
1
vote
0
answers
79
views
Could outer system probes detect lasers shone at them from earth (orbit)?
Does the Voyager spacecraft have instruments capable of detecting laser light if shone at them? New Horizons certainly does. Any other probes?
Is there any laser capable of accuracy and power enough ...
- 499
4
votes
1
answer
215
views
Could a laser ablation-based propulsion system really accelerate an object to 0.001 c?
Comments below this answer suggest that a laser ablation-based propulsion system, where the laser is separate from the object to be accelerated, could accelerate an object to about $\frac{1}{1000}$ of ...
- 149k