sodakfisherman wrote:
I actually know this from a documentary that I saw about claims that the Apollo moon landings were a hoax.
It is some sort of reflector that allows NASA to laser "ping" the moon to determine Earth-moon distance. Its presence on the moon and the ability of NASA to do so is one argument used to debunk said conspiracy theorists.
Give that man a cigar!
It is a one meter square LASER reflector on the Sea of Tranquility.
Its original use was to accurately measure the distance from the Earth to the Moon.
In early '70s a few of us used it for communications using 200 Watt CO2 LASERS and 8 inch reflector telescopes equipped with IR photo-diodes.
Aiming can be compared to hitting a running rabbit in the back of the head with a .22 rifle.