APOLLO: the Apache Point Observatory Lunar Laser-ranging Operation: Instrument Description and First Detections
T.W. Murphy, Jr., E.G. Adelberger, J.B.R. Battat, L.N. Carey, C.D., Hoyle, P. LeBlanc, E.L. Michelsen, K. Nordtvedt, A.E. Orin, J.D. Strasburg,, C.W. Stubbs, H.E. Swanson, and E. Williams
TL;DR
APOLLO is a high-precision lunar laser-ranging system using a 3.5 m telescope, achieving millimeter accuracy and enabling significant improvements in tests of fundamental gravity theories.
Contribution
It introduces a next-generation lunar laser-ranging instrument with millimeter precision, enhancing the accuracy of gravitational tests.
Findings
Achieved one-millimeter range precision to the moon
First science operations of the APOLLO system
Potential for an order-of-magnitude improvements in gravity tests
Abstract
A next-generation lunar laser ranging apparatus using the 3.5 m telescope at the Apache Point Observatory in southern New Mexico has begun science operation. APOLLO (the Apache Point Observatory Lunar Laser-ranging Operation) has achieved one-millimeter range precision to the moon which should lead to approximately one-order-of-magnitude improvements in the precision of several tests of fundamental properties of gravity. We briefly motivate the scientific goals, and then give a detailed discussion of the APOLLO instrumentation.
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