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isn't the lack of impacts near the retroreflector due to the fact that the moon surface around the reflector is always facing earth?
The earth covers a pretty small part of the sky for the moon, so I'm not sure it would have that much effect?
In terms of impact gravity and atmosphere extend that somewhat. Though, that’s still not enough to make a meaningful difference.
I have long wondered how easy it would be to perform this experiment as an amateur. Powerful lasers are quite cheap now. You could get a telescope (doubling as a beam expander and receiver), and some filters to only allow the laser wavelength to your detector.
Due to the extreme attenuation of the final signal the observation takes several hours using highly sensitive equipment, averaging it out to extract meaningful data.
I always liked the story of the Lunokhod 1 - the first of the two Soviet Lunar Rovers. Both had reflectors for laser ranging, but Lunokhod 1 was carelessly misplaced in the early 1970s. So no more ranging until 2010 when the NASA reconnaissance orbiter found it again. They didn't lose the other one. :) I think one of the Lunokhods still holds the record for the furthest ever travelled by an extra terrestrial vehicle.
Lunakhod 1 was still responding in 2013 (40 years later) thanks to the NASA LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter). French website, as it was a (secret) collaboration between Russians and the CNES who provided the retroreflector: https://sciences-techniques.cnes.fr/fr/web/CNES-fr/10757-st-...
You would think the reflectors being on the moon would shut up the “moon landings were faked” crowd.
What if the moon is just really shiny?
I have long wondered how easy it would be to perform this experiment as an amateur. Powerful lasers are quite cheap now. You could get a telescope (doubling as a beam expander and receiver), and some filters to only allow the laser wavelength to your detector.
[0] https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/qw30x/can_an_am...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Alas, that's not how it works. Any video you could show of the laser experiment would also be faked. Even if you were to set them in front of the equipment, that'd be faked too. I often wonder as a thought-experiment what would happen if you bundled them onto a Musk style space tourism rocket and flew them to the moon to see the flag (for a bonus they can look back to see the spherical Earth) and then back, would the…
No point sending a camera up, the camera manufacturers have tweaked the firmware to create the illusion of curvature. I _know_ the earth is flat, so I already know that GoPro are in on the conspiracy as well. Your "throw them on a rocket" idea is the only realistic way to convince them I would imagine. Which gives me an idea, maybe that could be my ticket to the moon
You would think the reflectors being on the moon would shut up the “moon landings were faked” crowd.
I mean, if actual pictures of the landing site from LRO don't convince them: https://airandspace.si.edu/multimedia-gallery/628457main1apo... then a few extra photons returning to the earth won't change their mind. (My personal favorite, in an aesthetic sense, is: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/apollo-15.html)