The terrestrial and lunar reference frame in lunar laser ranging

1999 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 125-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Huang ◽  
W. Jin ◽  
H. Xu
Keyword(s):  
Reference Frame ◽  
Laser Ranging ◽  
Lunar Laser Ranging ◽  
Lunar Laser ◽  
Lunar Reference Frame

scholarly journals Geocentric Terrestrial Reference Frame Accuracy: DSN Spacecraft Tracking and VLBI/Lunar Laser Ranging

1988 ◽  
Vol 128 ◽  
pp. 115-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. E. Niell
Keyword(s):  
Reference Frame ◽  
Terrestrial Reference Frame ◽  
Spin Axis ◽  
Laser Ranging ◽  
Lunar Laser Ranging ◽  
Deep Space Network ◽  
Long Baseline ◽  
Lunar Laser ◽  
Spacecraft Tracking ◽  
Geocentric Coordinates

From a combination of 1) the location of McDonald Observatory from Lunar Laser Ranging, 2) relative station locations obtained from Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) measurements, and 3) a short tie by traditional geodesy, the geocentric coordinates of the 64 m antennas of the NASA/JPL Deep Space Network are obtained with an orientation which is related to the planetary ephemerides and to the celestial radio reference frame. Comparison with the geocentric positions of the same antennas obtained from tracking of interplanetary spacecraft shows that the two methods agree to 20 cm in distance off the spin axis and in relative longitude. The orientation difference of a 1 meter rotation about the spin axis is consistent with the error introduced into the tracking station locations due to an error in the ephemeris of Jupiter.

scholarly journals Post-Newtonian Reference Frames for Advanced Theory of the Lunar Motion and for a New Generation of Lunar Laser Ranging

2010 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Xie ◽  
Sergei Kopeikin
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Reference Frame ◽  
Reference Frames ◽  
Laser Ranging ◽  
Lunar Laser Ranging ◽  
Local Frame ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Lunar Laser ◽  
Lunar Motion ◽  
New Generation

Post-Newtonian Reference Frames for Advanced Theory of the Lunar Motion and for a New Generation of Lunar Laser RangingWe overview a set of post-Newtonian reference frames for a comprehensive study of the orbital dynamics and rotational motion of Moon and Earth by means of lunar laser ranging (LLR). We employ a scalar-tensor theory of gravity depending on two post-Newtonian parameters, β and γ, and utilize the relativistic resolutions on reference frames adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 2000. We assume that the solar system is isolated and space-time is asymptotically flat at infinity. The primary reference frame covers the entire space-time, has its origin at the solar-system barycenter (SSB) and spatial axes stretching up to infinity. The SSB frame is not rotating with respect to a set of distant quasars that are forming the International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF). The secondary reference frame has its origin at the Earth-Moon barycenter (EMB). The EMB frame is locally-inertial and is not rotating dynamically in the sense that equation of motion of a test particle moving with respect to the EMB frame, does not contain the Coriolis and centripetal forces. Two other local frames - geocentric (GRF) and selenocentric (SRF) - have their origins at the center of mass of Earth and Moon respectively and do not rotate dynamically. Each local frame is subject to the geodetic precession both with respect to other local frames and with respect to the ICRF because of their relative motion with respect to each other. Theoretical advantage of the dynamically non-rotating local frames is in a more simple mathematical description. Each local frame can be aligned with the axes of ICRF after applying the matrix of the relativistic precession. The set of one global and three local frames is introduced in order to fully decouple the relative motion of Moon with respect to Earth from the orbital motion of the Earth-Moon barycenter as well as to connect the coordinate description of the lunar motion, an observer on Earth, and a retro-reflector on Moon to directly measurable quantities such as the proper time and the round-trip laser-light distance. We solve the gravity field equations and find out the metric tensor and the scalar field in all frames which description includes the post-Newtonian multipole moments of the gravitational field of Earth and Moon. We also derive the post-Newtonian coordinate transformations between the frames and analyze the residual gauge freedom.

scholarly journals Dynamical Reference Frames in the Planetary and Earth-Moon Systems

1990 ◽  
Vol 141 ◽  
pp. 173-182
Author(s):  
E. M. Standish ◽  
J. G. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Reference Frame ◽  
Reference Frames ◽  
Optical Data ◽  
Laser Ranging ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Lunar Laser Ranging ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Lunar Laser ◽  
Mariner 9 ◽  
Radar Ranging

We summarize our previous estimates of the accuracies of the ephemerides. Such accuracies determine how well one can establish the dynamical reference frame of the ephemerides. Ranging observations are the dominant data for the inner four planets and the Moon: radar-ranging for Mercury and Venus; Mariner 9 and Viking spacecraft-ranging for the Earth and Mars; lunar laser-ranging for the Moon. Optical data are significant for only the five outermost planets. Inertial mean motions for the Earth and Mars are determined to the level of 0.″003/cty during the time of the Viking mission; for Mars, this will deteriorate to 0.″01/cty or more after a decade or so; similarly, the inclination of the martian orbit upon the ecliptic was determined by Viking to the level of 0.″001. Corresponding uncertainties for Mercury and Venus are nearly two orders of magnitude larger. For the lunar mean motion with respect to inertial space, the present uncertainty is about 0.″04/cty; at times away from the present, the uncertainty of 1′/cty2 in the acceleration of longitude dominates. The mutual orientations of the equator, ecliptic and lunar orbit are known to 0.″002. The inner four planets and the Moon can now be aligned with respect to the dynamical equinox at a level of about 0.″005.

scholarly journals The Orientation of the Dynamical Reference Frame

1991 ◽  
Vol 127 ◽  
pp. 146-152
Author(s):  
J.G. Williams ◽  
J.O. Dickey ◽  
X X Newhall ◽  
E.M. Standish
Keyword(s):  
Reference Frame ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Laser Ranging ◽  
Reference Systems ◽  
Data Types ◽  
Lunar Laser Ranging ◽  
Accurate Knowledge ◽  
Lunar Laser ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Precession Constant

AbstractWe summarize the current status of the JPL ephemerides, focusing on the various data types utilized, especially the impact of the modern ranging data, and the resulting accuracies obtained. The dynamical equinox, as determined from the analysis of Lunar Laser Ranging data, is determined with an accuracy of 5 mas and the obliquity to a 2 mas level in ~1983, the weighted center of data. Knowledge of the lunar and planetary positions with respect to the dynamical equinox degrades to 10 mas at J2000. Twenty years of LLR data allow for the separation of the 18.6 yr nutation terms from the precession constant. The correction to IAU precession is found to be −2.7 ± 0.4 mas/yr, while the 18.6 yr nutation of the pole is 3.0 ± 1.5 mas larger in magnitude than the 1980 IAU series. The necessity of different reference systems and the accurate knowledge of the interconnections between frames is addressed.

scholarly journals On the dominant relativistic terms in the lunar theory

1986 ◽  
Vol 114 ◽  
pp. 53-57
Author(s):  
M. Soffel ◽  
H. Ruder ◽  
M. Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Reference Frame ◽  
Lunar Theory ◽  
Laser Ranging ◽  
Lunar Laser Ranging ◽  
Mean Motion ◽  
Lunar Laser ◽  
Lunar Motion ◽  
Jacobi Equations

For a simplified 3-body (Earth, Moon, Sun) problem it is shown how the usual Einstein-Infeld-Hoffmann equations for the lunar motion reduce to the Jacobi-equations after the transformation to the proper reference frame. The dominant relativistic contributions to the lunar laser ranging observables are then obtained in a Hill-Brown calculation. It is argued that in the proper reference frame all post-Newtonian variational terms are proportional to m = n′/(n-n′) [n(n′) = mean motion of Moon (Sun)].

Lunar Laser Ranging at CERGA for the ruby period (1981–1986)

1993 ◽  
pp. 189-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Veillet ◽  
J. F. Mangin ◽  
J. E. Chabaubie ◽  
C. Dumolin ◽  
D. Feraudy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Laser Ranging ◽  
Lunar Laser Ranging ◽  
Lunar Laser

scholarly journals CONSTRAINT ON INTERMEDIATE-RANGE GRAVITY FROM EARTH–SATELLITE AND LUNAR ORBITER MEASUREMENTS, AND LUNAR LASER RANGING

2005 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 1657-1666 ◽  
Author(s):  
GUANGYU LI ◽  
HAIBIN ZHAO
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Tests ◽  
Earth Satellite ◽  
Laser Ranging ◽  
Satellite Measurement ◽  
Lunar Orbiter ◽  
Lunar Laser Ranging ◽  
Intermediate Range ◽  
Earth Gravity ◽  
Lunar Laser ◽  
Order Of Magnitude

In the experimental tests of gravity, there have been considerable interests in the possibility of intermediate-range gravity. In this paper, we use the earth–satellite measurement of earth gravity, the lunar orbiter measurement of lunar gravity, and lunar laser ranging measurement to constrain the intermediate-range gravity from λ = 1.2 × 107 m –3.8 × 108 m . The limits for this range are α = 10-8–5 × 10-8, which improve previous limits by about one order of magnitude in the range λ = 1.2 × 107 m –3.8 × 108 m .

Effect of non-tidal station loading on Lunar Laser Ranging observatories and on the estimation of Earth orientation parameters

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vishwa Vijay Singh ◽  
Liliane Biskupek ◽  
Jürgen Müller ◽  
Mingyue Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Research Centre ◽  
Laser Ranging ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Lunar Laser Ranging ◽  
Earth Orientation Parameters ◽  
Tidal Station ◽  
Earth Orientation ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Lunar Laser ◽  
Orientation Parameters

<p>The distance between the observatories on Earth and the retro-reflectors on the Moon has been regularly observed by the Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) experiment since 1970. In the recent years, observations with bigger telescopes (APOLLO) and at infra-red wavelength (OCA) are carried out, resulting in a better distribution of precise LLR data over the lunar orbit and the observed retro-reflectors on the Moon, and a higher number of LLR observations in total. Providing the longest time series of any space geodetic technique for studying the Earth-Moon dynamics, LLR can also support the estimation of Earth orientation parameters (EOP), like UT1. The increased number of highly accurate LLR observations enables a more accurate estimation of the EOP. In this study, we add the effect of non-tidal station loading (NTSL) in the analysis of the LLR data, and determine post-fit residuals and EOP. The non-tidal loading datasets provided by the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), the International Mass Loading Service (IMLS), and the EOST loading service of University of Strasbourg in France are included as corrections to the coordinates of the LLR observatories, in addition to the standard corrections suggested by the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS) 2010 conventions. The Earth surface deforms up to the centimetre level due to the effect of NTSL. By considering this effect in the Institute of Geodesy (IfE) LLR model (called ‘LUNAR’), we obtain a change in the uncertainties of the estimated station coordinates resulting in an up to 1% improvement, an improvement in the post-fit LLR residuals of up to 9%, and a decrease in the power of the annual signal in the LLR post-fit residuals of up to 57%. In a second part of the study, we investigate whether the modelling of NTSL leads to an improvement in the determination of EOP from LLR data. Recent results will be presented.</p>

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