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    • Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) data from NASA CDDIS

    Metadata Updated: March 13, 2026

    Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) measures the distance between the Earth and the Moon using laser ranging. A short pulse of coherent light generated by a laser (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) is transmitted in a narrow beam to illuminate corner cube retroreflectors on the moon. The return signal, typically a few photons, is collected by a telescope and the time-of-flight is measured. Apollo astronauts and Russian rovers deployed laser ranging retroreflector arrays on the lunar surface which continue to yield fundamental scientific data. Analysis of Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) data provides information on the lunar orbit, rotation, solid-body tides, and retroreflector locations.

    Access & Use Information

    Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: See this page for license information.

    Downloads & Resources

    Dates

    Metadata Created Date March 13, 2026
    Metadata Updated Date March 13, 2026

    Metadata Source

    Harvested from NASA Data.json

    Other Data Resources

    Additional Metadata

    Resource Type Dataset
    Metadata Created Date March 13, 2026
    Metadata Updated Date March 13, 2026
    Publisher CDDIS
    Maintainer
    Identifier /SDE/CMR_API/|C1000000019-CDDIS
    Data Last Modified 2026-03-10
    Category Earth Science
    Public Access Level public
    Bureau Code 026:00
    Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
    Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
    Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
    Harvest Object Id 402178e2-6c26-42dd-9d8f-8b709c414b86
    Harvest Source Id 58f92550-7a01-4f00-b1b2-8dc953bd598f
    Harvest Source Title NASA Data.json
    License https://www.usa.gov/government-works
    Old Spatial {"EastBoundingCoordinate":180,"NorthBoundingCoordinate":90,"SouthBoundingCoordinate":-90,"WestBoundingCoordinate":-180},"CARTESIAN"
    Program Code 026:000
    Source Datajson Identifier True
    Source Hash 02bbcc44cc3004d3973bdf0242ae0857eda8297e22ed58cb66ac153eef1c523d
    Source Schema Version 1.1
    Spatial
    Temporal 1969-01-01/2026-03-05

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