Need an exact description (blue prints ?) of the Lunar Laserreflectors left by Apollo.

Folks:

I am looking for an exact description of the different US LRRR
experiments left on the moon. While I can find pictures and attendant
science papers on how they were used them afterwards ( I even talked
to a guy at McDonald Observatory), I am really interested in the
equivalent of a blueprint with exact dimensions of these reflectors.
While culling through NTIS, I came across some reports (like apollo
lunar surface experiment package CR 114901), ordered them but still
cannot find an exact mechanical description of them. The CDRs for the
LRRR for Apollo 14 looks like it is a bunch of minutes (try to find
that through NTIS) so I am a little lost as to where to start. Can
somebody provide me a hint / document number where I could find these
?

I know I am on a fishing trip and a long one at that.

Thanks in advance,

Igor Carron.

"Igor Carron"
I even talked
to a guy at McDonald Observatory

That was a good idea. They should have had the info since they use the
reflector.

Am Sat, 28 Feb 2004 04:34:03 -0800 (PST) schrieb "Kent Betts":

"Igor Carron"
I even talked
to a guy at McDonald Observatory

That was a good idea. They should have had the info since they use the
reflector.

ok, next step is to look, which Apollo contactor or sub-contractor
ACTUALLY MADE the reflectors - and look up THEIR archives.

cu, ZiLi aka HKZL (Heinrich Zinndorf-Linker)
--
/"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign
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http://zili.de X No HTML in
/ \ email & news

"Kent Betts" wrote in message ...
"Igor Carron"
I even talked
to a guy at McDonald Observatory

That was a good idea. They should have had the info since they use the
reflector.


Did that but as he was pointing out to me, even with the lasers they
are using these days, the surface area of the laser when it reaches
the moon is of the order of a km2. So in their daily activity they
never need to know blueprints infos. As far as I can tell some of the
photons (reflected from their retroreflector experiments for distance
measurements) they get back include also photons bouncing from what's
left of the LEM. So accuracy at the blueprint level is not a concern
of theirs for the moment.

Igor.

"Heinrich Zinndorf-Linker (zili@home)" wrote in message ...
Am Sat, 28 Feb 2004 04:34:03 -0800 (PST) schrieb "Kent Betts":

"Igor Carron"
I even talked
to a guy at McDonald Observatory

That was a good idea. They should have had the info since they use the
reflector.

ok, next step is to look, which Apollo contactor or sub-contractor
ACTUALLY MADE the reflectors - and look up THEIR archives.

cu, ZiLi aka HKZL (Heinrich Zinndorf-Linker)

Did that too, it was the bendix corporation, so far none of the
microfiche I could lay my hands on have been helpful. So my next step
has been to e-mail the PI of that experiment (Dr. Carroll Alley from
University of Maryland College Park) but I am not sure if he is
retired or not( sources:
http://ecolloq.gsfc.nasa.gov/archive...nce.alley.html
). If any of you has a different lead I am a taker.

Igor.

"Igor Carron" wrote in message
...
"Heinrich Zinndorf-Linker (zili@home)" wrote in
message ...
Am Sat, 28 Feb 2004 04:34:03 -0800 (PST) schrieb "Kent Betts":

"Igor Carron"
I even talked
to a guy at McDonald Observatory

That was a good idea. They should have had the info since they use the
reflector.

ok, next step is to look, which Apollo contactor or sub-contractor
ACTUALLY MADE the reflectors - and look up THEIR archives.

cu, ZiLi aka HKZL (Heinrich Zinndorf-Linker)

Did that too, it was the bendix corporation, so far none of the
microfiche I could lay my hands on have been helpful. So my next step
has been to e-mail the PI of that experiment (Dr. Carroll Alley from
University of Maryland College Park) but I am not sure if he is
retired or not( sources:
http://ecolloq.gsfc.nasa.gov/archive...nce.alley.html
). If any of you has a different lead I am a taker.

Igor.

Not of blueprint quality, but IIRC, around the time the mission went up Sci
Am had photos of them on the cover, and diagrams of them inside. Other
contemporary technical publications (AWST?) may have many details.

(Igor Carron) wrote in message om...
"Kent Betts" wrote in message ...
"Igor Carron"
I even talked
to a guy at McDonald Observatory

That was a good idea. They should have had the info since they use the
reflector.


Did that but as he was pointing out to me, even with the lasers they
are using these days, the surface area of the laser when it reaches
the moon is of the order of a km2. So in their daily activity they
never need to know blueprints infos. As far as I can tell some of the
photons (reflected from their retroreflector experiments for distance
measurements) they get back include also photons bouncing from what's
left of the LEM. So accuracy at the blueprint level is not a concern
of theirs for the moment.

Igor.

Get thyself to the Discovery Shop and grap a pair of 3D glasses, and
then visit;

http://www.flavorj.com/~skysea/Images/Stereo/KSC.htm

Then there are actual LEMs that you can photograph, and even visit if
you're very persuasive and nice about it.

http://www.aata.net/images/Projects/...667-R1-10A.jpg
http://www.michaelp.org/photos/kenne...e_interior.jpg


And there are tons of high res photos of actual LEMs in use;

http://www.chicagocentennialofflight...rM_Grumman.jpg
http://www.colliermuseum.com/Collier...o11-onmoon.jpg


Then there are tons of people who worked on the project. Call or
write them for leads (if they're still alive)

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/Hi...hies/webb.html
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/Hi...4009/v1p3a.htm

Here are some photos of lunar laser reflectors and other lunar surface
experiments;

http://www.bikexprt.com/bicycle/reflectors/goofy.htm

http://www.quarks.de/dyn/pics/11183-11556-2-kap7_2.jpg
http://www.quarks.de/dyn/11183.phtml

http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/395000...flector150.jpg
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/399468.stm

http://depts.washington.edu/uweek/ar...reflector4.jpg



http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/Hi...14/a14mr03.htm
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/Hi.../a14mrf3-5.gif

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/Hi...arLanding/ch-4
html
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/Hi...arLanding/i12a
jpg


Corner cub reflectors are given here; This is important because the
lunar laser reflectors wre merely an array of corner cube reflectors
like the ones shown in the first photograph:

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homep...tic_CornerCube
htm

http://quiz.thphy.uni-duesseldorf.de/99/oa6.html
http://www.sporian.com/ccr.html
http://www.leica-geosystems.com/ims/...reflectors.htm

On Fri, 27 Feb 2004 11:34:51 -0800 (PST), (Igor
Carron) wrote:

Folks:

I am looking for an exact description of the different US LRRR
experiments left on the moon. While I can find pictures and attendant
science papers on how they were used them afterwards ( I even talked
to a guy at McDonald Observatory), I am really interested in the
equivalent of a blueprint with exact dimensions of these reflectors.
While culling through NTIS, I came across some reports (like apollo
lunar surface experiment package CR 114901), ordered them but still
cannot find an exact mechanical description of them. The CDRs for the
LRRR for Apollo 14 looks like it is a bunch of minutes (try to find
that through NTIS) so I am a little lost as to where to start. Can
somebody provide me a hint / document number where I could find these
?

I know I am on a fishing trip and a long one at that.

Thanks in advance,

Igor Carron.

None of these links contain "blueprints" but do have
some info, drawings and pictures of the
Lunar Laser Ranging Retro-Reflector (LRRR).

The Apollo 11 Preliminary Science Report has info
in Chapter 7 (page 163) about the Laser Ranging
Retroreflector experiment. There is a cutaway diagram
of one of the reflectors.

The report can be downloaded in PDF format at this
URL. It's 24-mb in size.

-http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/as11psr.pdf


The Apollo 14 Preliminary Science Report has info
and drawings of the LRRR on page 215 of the 24-mb
PDF format report. It's available at this URL:

-http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a14/as14psr.pdf


he Apollo 15 Preliminary Science Report has info
and drawings of the LRRR on page 14-1 of the 53-mb
PDF format report. It's available at this URL:

-http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a15/as15psr.pdf


The Apollo 11 Presskit part 2, also available in PDF
format has a few line drawings of the LRRR on page 150 and
151.

It's available from this URL: 5.4-mb

-http://www-lib.ksc.nasa.gov/lib/archives/apollo/pk/APOLLO11pt2.PDF


This webpage lists weights and dimensions of the LRRR:

-http://ares.jsc.nasa.gov/HumanExplore/Exploration/EXLibrary/docs/ApolloCat/Part1/LRRR.htm


Info and line drawings are also at this URL:

-http://www.myspacemuseum.com/alseph1.htm


The EASEP Press Backgrounder also has some line drawings of
the LRRR on page 21. It's a 1.3-mb PDF document available at this URL:

-http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/a11EASEP.pdf


The Lunar site coordinates for the three LRRR's a

-http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/lunar_sites.txt




- Rusty Barton

On Fri, 27 Feb 2004 11:34:51 -0800, Igor Carron wrote:
I am looking for an exact description of the different US LRRR
experiments left on the moon. While I can find pictures and attendant

This probably isn't as detailed as you're looking for:
http://ares.jsc.nasa.gov/HumanExplor...Part1/LRRR.htm

Good luck!
__
Jim Gillogly