List of retroreflectors on the Moon

File:Lunar retroreflector locations.jpg

Retroreflectors are devices which reflect light back to its source. Six retroreflectors were left at six 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.[http://physics.ucsd.edu/~tmurphy/apollo/lrrr.html Lunar Retroreflectors] Lunar reflectors have enabled precise measurement of the Earth–Moon distance since 1969 using lunar laser ranging.Slava G. Turyshev: [https://books.google.com/books?id=aq_uDo2shjAC&pg=PA300 From Quantum to Cosmos: Fundamental Physics Research in Space] (2009), p. 300

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

class="sortable wikitable plainrowheaders"

!Operator

! scope="col" | Mission

! scope="col" | Name

! scope="col" | Date

!Location

! scope="col" | Coordinates

!Size

!Status

!Comment

NASA

| Apollo 11

! scope="row" |LRRR

| 21 July 1969

|Mare Tranquillitatis

| {{coord|0.6734|N|23.4731|E|globe:Moon_type:landmark|display=inline}}{{Cite journal|last1=Wagner|first1=R. V.|last2=Speyerer|first2=E. J.|last3=Burns|first3=K. N.|last4=Danton|first4=J.|last5=Robinson|first5=M. S.|title=Revised Coordinates for Apollo Hardware|date=2012-08-01|url=https://www.int-arch-photogramm-remote-sens-spatial-inf-sci.net/XXXIX-B4/517/2012/|journal=The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences|language=English|publisher=Copernicus GmbH|volume=XXXIX-B4|pages=517–521|doi=10.5194/isprsarchives-XXXIX-B4-517-2012|bibcode=2012ISPAr39B4..517W |doi-access=free}}

|46×46 cm{{Cite web|last=Newman|first=Michael E.|date=2017-09-26|title=To the Moon and Back … in 2.5 Seconds|url=https://www.nist.gov/nist-time-capsule/any-object-any-need-call-nist/moon-and-back-25-seconds|access-date=2021-01-27|website=NIST|language=en}}

|{{success|Operational}}

|{{cite web |url=https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2004/21jul_llr/ |title=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. |publisher=National Aeronautics and Space Administration |date=20 July 2004 |accessdate=1 August 2012}}

|17 November 1970

|{{coord|38.3152|N|35.0080|W|globe:Moon_type:landmark|display=inline}}

|44×19 cm

|{{success|Operational}}

|Rediscovered in 2010{{Cite web|date=27 April 2010|title=Lost Soviet Reflecting Device Rediscovered on the Moon|url=https://www.space.com/8295-lost-soviet-reflecting-device-rediscovered-moon.html|access-date=2021-01-26|website=Space.com|language=en}}{{cite web|title=LROC Observation M114185541R|url=http://wms.lroc.asu.edu/lroc/view_lroc/LRO-L-LROC-2-EDR-V1.0/M114185541RE|accessdate=8 August 2012|publisher=Arizona State University}}{{Cite web|title=Lunokhod 1 Revisited {{!}} Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera|url=http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/402|access-date=2019-10-08|website=lroc.sese.asu.edu}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.zarya.info/Diaries/Luna/Luna17.php|title=USSR – Luna 17}}

NASA

| Apollo 14

! scope="row" |LRRR

| 31 January 1971

|Fra Mauro formation

| {{coord|3.6442|S|17.4786|W|globe:Moon_type:landmark|display=inline}}

|46×46 cm

|{{success|Operational}}

|{{cite web|title=Apollo 14: The Eighth Mission: The Third Lunar Landing: 31 January–09 February 1971|url=https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/Apollo_14a_Summary.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20041114153331/https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/Apollo_14a_Summary.htm|archivedate=14 November 2004|accessdate=8 August 2012|publisher=National Aeronautics and Space Administration}}

NASA

| Apollo 15

! scope="row" |LRRR

|31 July 1971

|Hadley–Apennine

| {{coord|26.1334|N|3.6285|E|globe:Moon_type:landmark|display=inline}}

|105×65 cm

|{{success|Operational}}

|{{cite web|author=Archinal, Brent|date=13 April 2010|title=The Apollo 15 Lunar Laser Ranging Retroreflector – A Fundamental Point on the Moon!|url=http://www.lroc.asu.edu/news/index.php?/archives/180-The-Apollo-15-Lunar-Laser-Ranging-Retroreflector-A-Fundamental-Point-on-the-Moon!.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130113024629/http://www.lroc.asu.edu/news/index.php?%2Farchives%2F180-The-Apollo-15-Lunar-Laser-Ranging-Retroreflector-A-Fundamental-Point-on-the-Moon%21.html|archive-date=13 January 2013|accessdate=1 August 2012|publisher=Arizona State University}}

|15 January 1973

|{{coord|25.8323|N|30.9221|E|globe:Moon_type:landmark|display=inline}}

|44×19 cm

|{{success|Operational}}

|{{Cite web|url=http://www.zarya.info/Diaries/Luna/Luna21.php|title=USSR – Luna 21}}{{Cite web|title=NASA – NSSDCA – Spacecraft – Details|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1973-001A|access-date=2019-10-08|website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}

ISRO

|Chandrayaan-3

! scope="row" |Vikram

|23 August 2023

|Statio Shiv Shakti

|{{Coord|69.367621|S|32.348126|E|globe:Moon}}

|5.11 cm diameter{{Cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experiment/display.action?id=CHANDRYN3-05|title=Chandrayaan 3 – LRA}}

|{{Success|Operational}}

|{{Cite web |title=Chandrayaan-3 |url=https://www.isro.gov.in/Chandrayaan3_Details.html |access-date=15 August 2023 |website=ISRO}}{{Cite news |title=India lands spacecraft near south pole of moon in historic first |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/aug/23/india-chandrayaan-3-moon-landing-mission |last=Dhillon |first=Amrit |date=2023-08-23 |access-date=2023-08-23 |work=The Guardian}}{{cite web |title=Laser Instrument on NASA’s LRO Successfully ‘Pings’ Indian Moon Lander |url=https://science.nasa.gov/missions/lro/laser-instrument-on-nasas-lro-successfully-pings-indian-moon-lander/ |access-date=30 January 2024}}{{cite web |title=Instrument on Chandrayaan-3 lander started serving as a location marker near lunar south pole |url=https://www.isro.gov.in/Chandrayaan-3_lander_Instrument.html |access-date=30 January 2024}}

University of Maryland

|Blue Ghost Mission 1

!Next Generation Lunar Retroreflectors (NGLR) on Blue Ghost Mission 1

|March 2, 2025

|Mare Crisium near Mons Latreille

|{{Lunar coords and quad cat|18.56|N|61.81|E}}{{cite web |url= https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=BLUEGHOST |title= Blue Ghost Mission 1 (Firefly) |website= nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov |publisher= NASA |access-date= 2 March 2025 }}

|17x13x12 cm

|{{Success|Operational}}

|{{Cite web |title=Blue Ghost Mission 1 |url=https://fireflyspace.com/missions/blue-ghost-mission-1/ |access-date=2025-02-05 |website=Firefly Aerospace |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Next Gen Retroreflectors Launch to the Moon - UMD Physics |url=https://umdphysics.umd.edu/about-us/news/department-news/2000-nglr.html |access-date=2025-02-05 |website=umdphysics.umd.edu}}{{Cite web |title=Next Generation Lunar Retroreflector (NGLR) |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experiment/display.action?id=BLUEGHOST-04 |website=NASA}}

Attempted and planned reflectors

class="sortable wikitable plainrowheaders"

!Operator

! scope="col" | Mission

! scope="col" | Name

! scope="col" | Date

!Location

! scope="col" | Coordinates

!Status

!Comment

SpaceIL, IAI

|Beresheet

! scope="row" | Beresheet

| 11 April 2019

|Mare Serenitatis

| {{coord|32.5956|N|19.3496|E|globe:Moon_type:landmark|display=inline}}

|{{failure|Crashed}}

|[https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/beresheet-crash-manual-command/ Beresheet crash caused by manual command, but reflector device may have survived.] Georgina Torbet, Digital Trends. 21 April 2019.{{Cite web|last=Warner|first=Cheryl|date=2019-04-10|title=Update on First Private Robotic Spacecraft Attempt at Moon Landing|url=http://www.nasa.gov/feature/update-on-first-private-robotic-spacecraft-attempt-at-moon-landing|access-date=2019-04-12|website=NASA}}[https://phys.org/news/2019-05-israeli-spacecraft-beresheet-site-moon.html Israeli spacecraft Beresheet crash site spotted on moon], 15 May 2019

ISRO

| Chandrayaan-2

! scope="row" |Vikram

|6 September 2019

|{{Coord|70.8810|S|22.7840|E|globe:Moon}}

|{{failure|Crashed}}

|{{Cite web|date=September 8, 2019|title=Vikram lander located on lunar surface, wasn't a soft landing: Isro|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/vikram-lander-located-did-not-soft-land-on-moon-isro/articleshow/71037009.cms|access-date=2019-10-08|website=The Times of India|language=en}}{{cite news|last1=Bartels|first1=Meghan|date=24 March 2019|title=How NASA Scrambled to Add Science Experiments to Israeli, Indian Moon Probes|url=https://www.space.com/nasa-jumping-on-international-moon-landers.html|accessdate=25 March 2019}}

Moon Express

|Lunar Scout

! scope="row" |MoonLIGHT on MX-1E

|July 2020

|Malapert Mountain

|{{coord|84.9|S|12.9|E|globe:Moon_type:landmark|display=inline}}

|{{dropped|Cancelled}}

|[http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/missions/space-observatories/international-lunar-observatory-new-astrophysical-perspective/ Internatioinal Lunar Observatory to offer a new astrophysical perspective]. Tonasz Nowakowski. Spaceflight Insider. 12 August 2017.[https://umdrightnow.umd.edu/news/umd-italy-moonex-join-put-new-laser-reflecting-arrays-moon UMD, Italy & MoonEx Join to Put New Laser-Reflecting Arrays on Moon] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180322081731/https://umdrightnow.umd.edu/news/umd-italy-moonex-join-put-new-laser-reflecting-arrays-moon |date=22 March 2018 }}. Lee Tune, University of Maryland. 10 June 2015.

Astrobotic

|Mission One

! scope="row" |LRA on Peregrine

| May 2023

|Lacus Mortis

|{{failure|Aborted,
controlled re-entry}}

|{{Cite web|last=Etherington|first=Darrell|date=January 23, 2020|title=NASA reveals the payloads for the first commercial moon cargo deliveries|url=https://techcrunch.com/2020/01/23/nasa-reveals-the-payloads-for-the-first-commercial-moon-cargo-deliveries/|access-date=2021-03-02|website=TechCrunch|language=en-US}}

Roscosmos

|Luna 25

! scope="row" |Luna 25

|August 2023

|Pontécoulant G crater

|{{Coord|57.865|S|61.360|E|globe:Moon|display=inline}}

|{{Failure|Crashed}}

|{{Cite web |title=Luna-25 (Luna-Glob Lander) Payload |url=http://www.iki.rssi.ru/eng/luna25.htm |access-date=2023-08-15 |website=www.iki.rssi.ru}}{{Cite web |title=NASA - NSSDCA - Spacecraft - Details |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=LUNA-25 |access-date=2023-08-15 |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}{{Cite news |title=Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft crashes into the moon, ending its bid to reach the lunar south pole |url=https://apnews.com/article/russia-space-roscosmos-crash-658f5118c34cfa0f1501cc7522074323 |date=2023-08-20 |access-date=2023-08-20 |work=Associated Press}}

Intuitive Machines

|IM-1

! scope="row" |LRA on Nova-C IM-1

|February 2024

| Malapert (crater)

|{{Lunar coords and quad cat|80.13|S|1.44|E}}

|{{not yet|Failed}}

|{{cite web |url=https://fcc.report/IBFS/SAT-LOA-20210423-00055/6378695.pdf |title=Intuitive Machines-1 Orbital Debris Assessment Report (ODAR) Revision 1.1 |work=Intuitive Machines |publisher=FCC |date=22 April 2021 |access-date=24 April 2021}}

Intuitive Machines

|IM-2

! scope="row" |LRA on Nova-C IM-2

|6 March 2025

| Mons Mouton

| {{Lunar coords and quad cat|85|S|31|W}}

|{{not yet|Failed}}