List of retroreflectors on the Moon
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_retroreflectors_on_the_Moon
The locations of lunar retroreflectors left by Apollo (A) and Luna (L) missions.
Retroreflectors are devices which reflect light back to its source. Seven retroreflectors were left at seven sites on the Moon by three crews of the Apollo program, two by remote landers of the Lunokhod program, one by the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program and one by the Chandrayaan program.[1] Lunar reflectors have enabled precise measurement of the Earth–Moon distance since 1969 using lunar laser ranging.[2]
There have been several additional attempts to land retroreflectors on the lunar surface which were unsuccessful, and several future attempts are planned.
Successfully placed reflectors[edit]
Attempted and planned reflectors[edit]
Apollo 11 Lunar Laser Ranging Retroreflector
Close-up of Apollo 15 retroreflector
Model of Lunokhod 2. The retroreflector is the hexagonal box with open lid in the front.
Lunar Laser Ranging experiment
List of artificial objects on the Moon
List of missions to the Moon
^ Jump up to: a b c Lunar Retroreflectors
^ Slava G. Turyshev: From Quantum to Cosmos: Fundamental Physics Research in Space (2009), p. 300
^ Jump up to: a b c d e Wagner, R. V.; Speyerer, E. J.; Burns, K. N.; Danton, J.; Robinson, M. S. (1 August 2012). "Revised Coordinates for Apollo Hardware". The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences. XXXIX-B4. Copernicus GmbH: 517–521. Bibcode:2012ISPAr39B4..517W. doi:10.5194/isprsarchives-XXXIX-B4-517-2012.
^ Newman, Michael E. (26 September 2017). "To the Moon and Back … in 2.5 Seconds". NIST. Archived from the original on 27 July 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
^ "What Neil & Buzz Left on the Moon: A cutting-edge science experiment left behind in the Sea of Tranquility by Apollo 11 astronauts is still running today". National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 20 July 2004. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
^ "Lost Soviet Reflecting Device Rediscovered on the Moon". Space.com. 27 April 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
^ "LROC Observation M114185541R". Arizona State University. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
^ "Lunokhod 1 Revisited | Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera". lroc.sese.asu.edu. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
^ "USSR – Luna 17".
^ "Apollo 14: The Eighth Mission: The Third Lunar Landing: 31 January–09 February 1971". National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Archived from the original on 14 November 2004. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
^ Archinal, Brent (13 April 2010). "The Apollo 15 Lunar Laser Ranging Retroreflector – A Fundamental Point on the Moon!". Arizona State University. Archived from the original on 13 January 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
^ "USSR – Luna 21".
^ "NASA – NSSDCA – Spacecraft – Details". nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
^ "Chandrayaan 3 – LRA".
^ "Chandrayaan-3". ISRO. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
^ Dhillon, Amrit (23 August 2023). "India lands spacecraft near south pole of moon in historic first". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
^ "Laser Instrument on NASA's LRO Successfully 'Pings' Indian Moon Lander". Retrieved 30 January 2024.
^ "Instrument on Chandrayaan-3 lander started serving as a location marker near lunar south pole". Retrieved 30 January 2024.
^ "Blue Ghost Mission 1 (Firefly)". nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
^ "Blue Ghost Mission 1". Firefly Aerospace. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
^ "Next Gen Retroreflectors Launch to the Moon - UMD Physics". umdphysics.umd.edu. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
^ "Next Generation Lunar Retroreflector (NGLR)". NASA.
^ Beresheet crash caused by manual command, but reflector device may have survived. Georgina Torbet, Digital Trends. 21 April 2019.
^ Warner, Cheryl (10 April 2019). "Update on First Private Robotic Spacecraft Attempt at Moon Landing". NASA. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
^ Israeli spacecraft Beresheet crash site spotted on moon, 15 May 2019
^ "Vikram lander located on lunar surface, wasn't a soft landing: Isro". The Times of India. 8 September 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
^ Bartels, Meghan (24 March 2019). "How NASA Scrambled to Add Science Experiments to Israeli, Indian Moon Probes". Retrieved 25 March 2019.
^ Internatioinal Lunar Observatory to offer a new astrophysical perspective. Tonasz Nowakowski. Spaceflight Insider. 12 August 2017.
^ UMD, Italy & MoonEx Join to Put New Laser-Reflecting Arrays on Moon Archived 22 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Lee Tune, University of Maryland. 10 June 2015.
^ Jump up to: a b Etherington, Darrell (23 January 2020). "NASA reveals the payloads for the first commercial moon cargo deliveries". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
^ "Luna-25 (Luna-Glob Lander) Payload". www.iki.rssi.ru. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
^ "NASA - NSSDCA - Spacecraft - Details". nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
^ "Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft crashes into the moon, ending its bid to reach the lunar south pole". Associated Press. 20 August 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
^ "Intuitive Machines-1 Orbital Debris Assessment Report (ODAR) Revision 1.1" (PDF). Intuitive Machines. FCC. 22 April 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
🔐 Cryptographic Verification
Archived URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_retroreflectors_on_the_Moon
�� CONTENT HASHES:
SHA-256: 5df71257b4330e6d450d8b298602d09869361e1f113f3097680da73d52eccb23
BLAKE2b: e27ca5250d4a37a3216054c82a441f0a684071b3a17428a5e519496672464c71
MD5: 156056b994fbda878c387ec2ef2cb8bf
�� TITLE HASHES:
SHA-256: 38271e228dd24471ee4b24cfea40e89cbadae7f3c38fd957ef47d9dcb4377e30
BLAKE2b: 0d15f46460b8f14285de4df79e0d47c9f83d4941bf4409073c8625b8eaadeb32
MD5: 36e551acb09b9d77de05a64d207d7589
�� INTEGRITY HASHES:
SHA-256: 336f4b01f55c073d6de645d9bf7ea330771df4e2d86d7ddd52c7ef42b13595cb
BLAKE2b: fab3ba8fae555a89eb4b50add06f99c915bca92f18441340a4913b70ac8360c1
MD5: 17b053f04c2c3009dd19a7b6dc800b2c
Archived with ArcHive - Client-side cryptographic archival system