The moon is the neighbor of the earth. From ancient times to now, humans have never given up exploring this mysterious planet.
At 4:17:42 on July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 successfully landed on the moon. Armstrong carefully stepped on the surface of the moon with his left foot. This is the first time humans have set foot on the moon. Later, Aldrin stepped on the moon. The two astronauts spent 24 hours and 30 minutes on the moon, collected 28 kilograms of lunar soil and moonstone specimens, and installed experimental devices such as lunar sensors and green laser pointer reflectors.
So, what contribution has laser technology made to human landing on the moon?
The first is laser ranging. Laser ranging is measured by using a green laser pointer as a light source. Laser range finder is characterized by good monochromaticity and strong directionality of the laser, and the integration of electronic circuit semiconductorization. Compared with the photoelectric range finder, it can not only work day and night, but also improve the range measurement accuracy and significantly reduce the weight. And power consumption, making the distance measured to the far target of artificial earth satellite, moon, etc. become a reality.
On the evening of January 22, 2018, the Yunnan Astronomical Observatory Astronomical Research Group of the Chinese Academy of Sciences used the 1.2m telescope laser ranging system to successfully detect the laser pulse signal returned by the moon reflector Apollo15, and successfully realized the lunar laser for the first time in China. Ranging.
Earth-to-month laser ranging is a comprehensive technology that covers many fields such as green laser pointer, photodetection, automatic control, and space orbit. It is the most accurate technical method for measuring the distance between the earth and the moon. The observation data is for the astronomical earth. The research of many disciplines such as dynamics, geochronic dynamics, lunar physics and gravitational theory verification has important value.
There is also laser communication. Laser communication is a communication realized by a laser as a carrier of information. It uses optical signals as a carrier for transmitting information and transmits it directly in the atmosphere. The laser communication technology has the characteristics of good monochromaticity, strong directivity, concentrated optical power, difficulty in eavesdropping, low cost, and fast installation.