Laser communication and ranging experiments were successfully conducted from the satellite laser ranging (SLR) station at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) in lunar orbit. The experiments used 4096-ary pulse position modulation (PPM) for the laser pulses during one-way LRO Laser Ranging (LR) operations. Reed-Solomon forward error correction codes were used to correct the PPM symbol errors due to atmosphere turbulence and pointing jitter. The signal fading was measured and the results were compared to the model.
Free Space Laser Communication Experiments from Earth to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in Lunar Orbit
2013
7 pages
Report
No indication
English
Space Technology , Satellite laser ranging , Pulsed lasers , Free-space optical communication , Lunar reconnaissance orbiter , Lunar orbits , Laser ranging , Pulse position modulation , Data processing , Reed-solomon codes , Errors , Symbols , Signal processing , Tracking stations , Pointing control systems , Atmospheric turbulence , Vibration