Femtoseconds lasers will help formation flying in space
The X-Ray Observatory set for launch after 2020 might be the spacecrafts to use femtosecond lasers for precision distance measurements. (Photo: NASA)
Article Summary
Theoretical work commissioned to the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) by the European Space Agency has recently concluded that lasers capable of generating extremely short pulses — known as "femtosecond comb lasers" — could be of great help in measuring the distance between two or more spacecraft to an accuracy of just a few microns, an essential component to formation flying space missions scheduled for the next decades.
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