Questions tagged [laser]
Questions regarding devices which emit focused beams of electromagnetic energy.
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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 ...
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Why don't lasers last long in space?
A news article
reports that
OSIRIS-REx was equipped with two lasers for the spacecraft
to shoot off the rock and study the echo to facilitate
its landing and sampling maneuver. ...
Most lasers don't ...
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How could METI laser pulses be "brighter than the Sun"?
This Astronomy online course page The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence contains the following, about half-way down:
However, in recent years, human engineers have learned how to make flashes ...
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Does Falcon 9's first stage use laser, radar or vision to assist landing? [duplicate]
Does Falcon 9's first stage use only GPS when it makes its vertical precision landing, or is it assisted also by radar or laser ranging or computer vision? If not, why not?
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How many (presumably friendly) lasers are being shot at us from space? (pew! pew!)
Example: at first they could not decide which of the green laser-shooting satellites was responsible! Too many to choose from?
See Science Alert's February 9, 2023, Ominous Green Lasers Shot Over ...
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Would an incandescent light bulb be more efficient than a laser for photon propulsion?
In an incandescent light bulb pretty much almost all of the input power is radiated as photons. While perhaps 10% of the power is useful for human vision and the rest are longer wavelengths, it's all ...
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Do the latest Starlink satellites use inter-satellite laser communications?
Do the latest (as of Jan 30, 2020) Starlink satellites use inter-satellite laser communications?
I can't find any info about that!
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Is it recorded and/or documented when and where Curiosity's ChemCam's laser has zapped on Mars?
The article with the title "NASA Rover's Images Show Laser Flash on Martian Rock" tells us that the ChemCam's laser had zapped more than 600 rock and soil targets on Mars since Curiosity landed in ...
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What exactly is a "Next Generation Lunar Reflector"? Difference in design and performance?
Space.com's 50 Years After Apollo, India Is Carrying a NASA Laser Reflector to the Moon (And It's Only the Start) is a little confusing because it talks about three retroreflectors:
- Apollo era ...
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Why does LRO's laser altimeter telescopes use lenses instead of mirrors?
From Space.com's NASA's Piggyback Experiment on Israeli Moon Lander Could Aid Future Lunar Touchdowns shows an image of the laser altimeter on the LRO. It looks like the "transmit" and "...
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Why is the Aeolus space laser losing power so quickly?
The BBC News article Aeolus: Wind-mapping space laser is losing power says that
Europe's Aeolus satellite was launched last year to gather data to improve weather forecasts, and its observations have ...
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Laser powered LEO launch system
Latest research on beam powered propulsion seem to focus on the microwave spectrum as it is easy to catch by the orbital vehicle. However I argue it could be way cheaper to use a solar powered laser ...
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Was any data actually transmitted between OSCD and ISARA in the recent CubeSat lasercom test?
Two CubeSats (the OCSD and ISARA CubeSats) recently demonstrated technology for on-orbit sat-sat laser communications. All the information I have been able to find doesn't indicate if the test ...
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How to get an initial setting of the range gate for a Lunar Laser Ranging using a new Retro Reflector for the first time?
From an answer to this question
They were searching by aiming their laser at the moon and looking for
reflections. But the system is set to only detect photons in a very
narrow range of ...
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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 ...
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