Re: Paint the Moon

[Herbert H Gottlieb <herbgottlieb@JUNO.COM>]

On Thu, 25 Oct 2001 13:36:04 -0400 Sandin <sandint@NCAT.EDU> writes:
> The moon is about 400 million meters away. The reflector array has a
> size of the order of 1 meter. Even if the beam could be kept from
> spreading, the person holding the pointer would have to keep it
> aimed to within about 1/(400 million) radian or about 1/(10 million)
degree.
> I'm a bit shakier than that.                          Tom Sandin

Even with my perfectly attuned shakeless hands, I would face another
major problem. I would have to compensate for the rotation of the earth
and the revolution of the moon that would make the moon a moving target.
Pity the foolish people who stand outdoors all over the world with
their laser pointers aimed at the moon and hoping to see a non-existant
reflection.

Herb













> On Thu, 25 Oct 2001, David Bowman wrote:
>
> > It seems to me that a major problem with the idea (other than the
> > other major problems of beam spreading and low total luminosity)
> is
> > that hand held laser pointers do not come equipped with a
> sighting
> > scope so they cannot be properly aimed at a target of small
> subtended
> > angle without relying on the person holding it looking at the
> > reflected beam spot to provide the necessary visual feedback so
> an
> > accurate pointing can be converged on.
> >
> > David Bowman


Herb Gottlieb from New York City
(Where it's nice to live but I wouldn't
want to be a tourist here)
herbgottlieb@juno.com