Laser Instrument on NASA’s LRO Successfully ‘Pings’ Indian Moon Lander

Only 2 inches, or 5 centimeters, wide, NASA’s tiny but mighty retroreflector, called a Laser Retroreflector Array, has eight quartz-corner-cube prisms set into a dome-shaped aluminum frame. The device is simple and durable, scientists say, requiring neither power nor maintenance, and can last for decades. Its configuration allows the retroreflector to reflect light coming in from any direction back to its source.