Questions tagged [laser]
Questions regarding devices which emit focused beams of electromagnetic energy.
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Is pinging the Moon with a laser as shown on "The Big Bang Theory" possible?
In an episode of season 3 of The Big Bang Theory, the cast sends a laser pulse to the Moon. This seems to be a real thing: What Neil & Buzz left on the Moon (2004). My questions are:
Could ...
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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 do the interferometers on the drag-free satellite LISA receive power without altering their geodesic trajectory?
LISA is a proposed space probe designed to measure gravitational waves. It aims to measure gravitational waves directly by using laser interferometry. It uses a drag-free satellite design to protect ...
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Could we use a narrow paradigm, say laser, to get info faster from New Horizons? (With a moon base.)
There was just a question (actually, on Astronomy) about why the data rate from New Horizons is low.
Of course, even with the most directional radio antennas, the spread is enormous.
I guess ...
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Are we actually that close to techniques of accelerating probes to speeds like a quarter $c$?
As recent research has been started by a team around Stephen Hawking under the name Breakthrough Starshot they are going for accelerating little probes up to 0.2~0.25$c$. There isn't that much ...
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Is it possible to extend high speed data transmission with lasers to the distance Earth to Mars?
Data transmission using an optical laser between ground station and a GEO satellite may offer very high data rates, up to 1.8 GBit/s for instance.
But what about a transmission from Earth to Mars ...
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Laser propulsion possible?
Is it possible to get an impulse, if you shoot at a solar sails with lasers mounted on the spaceship?
If so, why doesn't a laser create a force, if it fires/releases a photon?
Is the impulse ...
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How does QUESS, China's quantum communications satellite experiment, relay entangled signals?
China launched the Quantum Experiments at Space Scale (QUESS) on the satellite called MOZI or Micius today, which will be used for quantum communications between China and Europe. Popular Science ...
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Doing an experiment to point a laser to the moon and back
After reading this question: I got an itch to to test out the mirrors myself (and maybe record whole process to irritate conspiracy nuts).
What equipment would I need? I assume a high powered laser ...
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What's the current timeline for NASA's Mars orbiter laser communications?
Dr. Jim Green, Director, NASA Planetary Science Division, mentioned during his "The Martian": Science Fiction & Science Fact talk for the 18th Annual International Mars Society Convention (you can ...
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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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How would a laser "shoot down" space junk?
This question links to an article describing a ground-based laser designed for shooting down orbiting space debris:
"The scientists intend to use the massive soon-to-be-built telescope at the Altay ...
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Power requirements for zapping debris with lasers from ISS
My understanding is that the ISS provides 75-90 kWatts of power, so enough power for a 1 second Megawatt pulse for zapping debris in about 15 seconds.
Question is: is this right, have I over looked ...
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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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What are these structures on the Lunar Ranging Retro Reflector (LRRR) arrays for?
In Local expansion measured, near zero via Lunar Ranging - what about deep space probes? I used images of the retro-reflector arrays that were left on the moon by Apollo 11, 14, and 15. The Lunar ...
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