In the Galileo Optical Experiment (GOPEX), optical transmissions were beamed to the Galileo spacecraft by Earth-based transmitters at Table Mountain Observatory (TMO), California, and Starfire Optical Range (SOR), New Mexico. The demonstration took place over an eight-day period (December 9 through December 16) as Galileo receded from Earth on its way to Jupiter. At 6 million kilometers (15 times the Earth-Moon distance), the laser beam sent from Table Mountain Observatory eight days after Earth flyby covered the longest known range for laser transmission and detection.

Date Published: 6 August 1993
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 1866, Free-Space Laser Communication Technologies V, (6 August 1993); doi: 10.1117/12.149251

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1866:
Free-Space Laser Communication Technologies V
G. Stephen Mecherle, Editor(s)