[TML] TML Digest, Vol 2007, Issue 233

[Jerry W Barrington]

On 8/24/07 2:34 PM, "tml-request at travellercentral.com"
<tml-request at travellercentral.com> wrote:

> The laser beam bouncing off the moon was *miles* in diameter by the
> time it got there. Possibly hundreds of miles. The doesn't require a
> lot of aiming.

If it spread as much as you think, and only a few square feet of it reflect
back, then *that* beam spread that much and only a few square feet enter the
telescope, it would be useless.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser

"Thus, a beam generated by a small laboratory laser such as a helium-neon
laser spreads to about 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) diameter if shone from the
Earth to the Moon."