[OPTICAL REVIEW Vol. 3, No. 2 (1996) 62-64]
Optical Characteristics of the Retroreflector in Space for the Advanced Earth Observing Satellite
Nobuo SUGIMOTO1 and Atsushi MINATO2
1National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2, Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305 Japan, 2Ibaraki University, 4-12-1, Nakanarusawa-machi, Hitachi, Ibaraki, 316 Japan
(Received November 1, 1995; Acceped January 11, 1996)
Optical characteristics of the flight unit of the retroreflector in space (RIS) for the Advanced Earth Observing Satellite (ADEOS) were tested with a 60-cm diameter interferometer. The efficiency of the reflection of the RIS on the ADEOS in orbit was simulated based on the measured wavefront for the ground stations at several different latitudes.
Key words : space retroreflector, laser long-path absorption method, satellite laser ranging