The performance and analysis of the TianQin station during its first full moon ranging.

Abstract

With a history of over 50 years of lunar laser ranging, some excellent observatories have emerged and made many contributions. The TianQin ranging station is a new station with lunar laser ranging capabilities under the TianQin project. It has been consistently obtaining lunar data using a wavelength of 1064 nm for five years and has achieved good results during near-full moon periods. However, it consistently failed to obtain the ranging data on the day of the full moon. This paper reports on the efforts made by the TianQin station since the first echo and then provides a detailed introduction to the progress that has been made in observations in recent years. Finally, on 29 September 2023, the TianQin station obtained the Apollo 15 (A15) echo signals for the first time during the full moon, and we provide a detailed analysis of the ranging data obtained during full moon observations.