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The Heavy Disco-Ball Satellite Designed To Do… Nothing
Hackaday • • science
Key Points:
- Launched in 1976, LAGEOS-1 is a passive scientific satellite with no electronics, power supply, or propulsion, designed as a spherical, disco ball-like object weighing just under 407 kg.
- Its surface is covered with corner cube retroreflectors that reflect laser pulses back to their source, enabling precise time-of-flight measurements from ground stations.
- LAGEOS-1’s highly stable orbit allows it to serve as a reliable reference for measuring tiny changes in Earth's size, shape, and rotation, as well as contributing to tests of general relativity.
- The satellite’s design minimizes atmospheric drag and disturbances, allowing it to remain in orbit and operational for millions of years without maintenance.
- LAGEOS-2, launched in 1992, continues the mission, enhancing the long-term geodynamic and relativistic research initiated by LAGEOS-1.
