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Scientific achievements from ten years of lunar laser ranging
Author(s) -
Mulholland J. Derral
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
reviews of geophysics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 8.087
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1944-9208
pISSN - 8755-1209
DOI - 10.1029/rg018i003p00549
Subject(s) - ranging , laser ranging , astrobiology , geophysics , geology , physics , remote sensing , laser , geodesy , optics
In the 10 years since lunar laser ranging became a reality the need to analyze the observations has motivated improvements in several aspects of the mathematical model of earth‐moon dynamics. Application of the data to improved estimates of the physical parameters of the earth‐moon system has yielded significant astronomical, selenophysical, geophysical, and cosmological results. The scientific impact, both in improved theories and in numerical applications, is surveyed. The underlying physics and major difficulties are discussed, as well as the scientific results.