DocumentCode :
3505886
Title :
Lasers in Earth and planetary exploration
Author :
Smith, D.E.
Author_Institution :
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
fYear :
1998
fDate :
3-8 May 1998
Firstpage :
50
Abstract :
Summary form only given. Laser altimeters, lidars, and ranging systems have been part of space missions to the Moon, an asteroid, and Mars; and more are planned and contemplated in the future exploration of the solar system. On September 11, 1997 the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) entered into orbit around Mars. One of the four scientific instruments on MGS is the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) which has started to map the topography of the planet to unprecedented accuracy. In January 1999 the NEAR spacecraft, which carries a laser ranger (NLR), will arrive at the asteroid Eros and over the period of a year the NLR will determine the shape and the dynamics of the body. MOLA and NLR, along with the Clementine laser altimeter that went to the Moon in 1992, represent a new class of active remote sensing instruments for conducting science in the solar system. With them and their successors we can begin to unravel many of the intriguing questions surrounding the formation, dynamics and evolution of the planets, and even the solar system itself.
Keywords :
laser ranging; optical radar; remote sensing by laser beam; space research; 433 Eros; Clementine laser altimeter; MOLA; Mars Global Surveyor; Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter; Moon; NEAR spacecraft; active remote sensing instruments; asteroid; laser ranger; laser ranging systems; lidars; planetary exploration; scientific instruments; solar system exploration; Earth; Instruments; Laser radar; Mars; Moon; Planetary orbits; Planets; Solar system; Space missions; Terrorism;
fLanguage :
English
Publisher :
ieee
Conference_Titel :
Lasers and Electro-Optics, 1998. CLEO 98. Technical Digest. Summaries of papers presented at the Conference on
Conference_Location :
San Francisco, CA, USA
Print_ISBN :
1-55752-339-0
Type :
conf
DOI :
10.1109/CLEO.1998.675849
Filename :
675849
Link To Document :
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