---

NASA Space

Instrument and Sensing

Laser Sensing Technology

On this page:

• Laser Sensing Technology Program Goals and Objectives
• Laser Sensing Technology Program Accomplishments
• Laser Sensing Technology Program Milestones and Road-maps
• Laser Sensing Technology Program Progress Reports
• Additional Information

Laser Sensing Technology Program Goals and Objectives

The Laser Sensing Technology program is a comprehensive approach to develop laser and lidar technology to enable expanded scientific research in space science and remote sensing. The overall goal of the program is to demonstrate, by the mid-nineties, a wide range of new lasers and laser-related technologies operating mainly, though not exclusively, in the near- or mid-infrared spectral regions; and to leverage those technologies to develop diverse new applications. Those applications include: the reliable, long-life, eye safe, remote measurement of global atmospheric winds through use of a space-borne solid state Doppler Lidar as a Laser Atmospheric Wind Sounder; the remote measurement of atmospheric gases and aerosols (including ozone-related and greenhouse gases) through solid state Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) techniques in the near- and mid-infrared as well as the visible; and new space science, gravitational, metrological, and interferometric measurements, through the use of new ultra-stable lasers in the near-infrared.

To attain the requisite technology, this program will adapt and exploit the newest scientific information in high power, narrow line-width, highly stable, solid state lasers. By the mid-nineties, the program will develop breadboard models of advanced solid state coherent laser transmitters, single and multiple wide-bandwidth coherent detectors and lidar receivers, ultra-stable continuous wave near-infrared lasers with the requisite optical technology, and very low-noise near-infrared detectors. Also, calibration technologies to test and calibrate components, breadboards, and systems will be developed. This program will study applications systems to insure objectivity. Achieving these results, the program will have developed new lasers and laser systems and will have substantially advanced the performance of diode lasers and near- and mid-infrared coherent detectors for transfer to other technology areas.

Laser Sensing Technology Program Accomplishments

• Laser Technology Tested in Space! The Lidar In-Space Technology Experiment (LITE) mission is the first to use lasers in space for study of the Earth's atmospheric environment. The instrument was launched on the space shuttle Discovery on September 9, 1994 and landed on September 20. Click here for more information on this shuttle mission. See also the pre-launch and post-launch LITE summary articles from the publication Space Technology Innovations.
• Titanium: Sapphire - A Dynamic New Laser Material
• Technology for Satellite Laser Ranging

Laser Sensing Technology Program Milestones and Road-maps

Not yet available on-line

• A diagram of the elements of a laser wind sensor.

Laser Sensing Technology Program Progress Reports

• NASA MSFC Solid State Coherent Doppler Lidar Status (contains the links to the quarterly reports from April 1994 on).
• NASA LaRC Solid State Laser Development Status
  • NASA LaRC Doppler Lidar Status
  • NASA LaRC DIAL / LIDAR Systems Technology Status. Click here for more details on the following activities:
    • Third Harmonic/OPO Laser Development
    • Nd:YAG/Ti:Sapphire Mixing Technology for UV Lasers
    • Cr:Li:SAF Laser for General Purpose Use
    • Nd:Garnet Laser for Water Vapor Detection at 940 nm
    • High Efficiency Laser Technology
    • High Efficiency Filters
    • Seed and Optical Fiber Lasers
    • Advanced Laser Materials
• NASA JPL Activity: Tunable Semiconductor Lasers

Additional Information

RELEASE: 95-148, SCIENTISTS DISCOVER FIRST NATURAL LASER IN SPACE (8/29/95), a NASA Press Release.

This page is devoted to information about Lasers and their application to (mostly remote) sensing. If you are interested in photonics and the use of laser light for carrying and processing information, please see the On-Board Information Systems Technology page.

These links are listed as a service to the users of this page. NASA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information supplied by other sources.

Web Pages of NASA Centers Involved in the Program

• The Electro-Optics Branch Home Page at the NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight Center.
• The Remote Sensing Thrust Office Page at the NASA Langley Research Center.
• The Experimental Instrumentation Branch at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
• The Center for Space Microelectronics Technology at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Other Government Sites

This is not a complete list, by any means!

• The Lasers and Imaging Directorate at the Phillips Laboratory.
• New lasers and laser technologies are developed by the Advanced Optical Systems Development* Group of the Chemical Science and Technology Division* at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (*these links not working last time I checked). The Space Engineering Group of the Non-proliferation and International Security Division is the most likely LANL organization to build and fly a mission using laser technologies.

Professional Societies

• Lasers and Electro-Optics, one of the Reports on Emerging Technologies from the IEEE Society. See also the home page of The Lasers and Electro Optics Society (LEOS), a professional society of the IEEE.
• OpticsNet from the Optical Society of America.

University Centers

• The Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers (CREOL) at the University of Central Florida.

Return to:

• Instrument and Sensing Technology Page
• Advanced Technology and Mission Studies Division Page
• Office of Space Science
• NASA Headquarters Page
• NASA Page

Created: June 7, 1994. Last update: May 13, 1997. Please see my Disclaimer and Web Policy page. Maintained by Gordon Johnston.

The world wide web uniform resource locator (URL) for this page is:

http://ranier.hq.nasa.gov/Sensors_page/Laser/LaserOv.html