Milestone-Proposal talk:Apollo 11 Lunar Ranging Experiment (LURE)

Discussion -- Jbart64 (talk) 23:11, 11 October 2018 (UTC)

I am the advocate to this Milestone proposal. After reviewing all submitted materials and reviewing scientific reports, I supplied additional material to the proposer which has been included in the citation's supporting documentation. My comments and edits have also been incorporated into the final proposed wording.

I fully support this Milestone on two separate grounds: (1) the KORAD laser utilized in LURE represents its own scientific and engineering achievement, and (2) the experiment involved direct human interaction and equipment placed by human hands onto an extraterrestrial object. Both of these are "firsts": the invention and the human interaction involving an experiment conducted from earth with equipment placed directly onto the moon by people.

The plaque will be located at Lick Observatory, site of the experiment, with a second copy near the KORAD laser invention site. The precise location of the copy plaque is being finalized. Since the main plaque's location is selected and supported, the milestone is ready for approval regardless of whether the duplicate plaque is ever placed. Planning for the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 is underway. Therefore, I recommend approval of the milestone for placement at the Lick Observatory location. I also recommend conditional approval of the right to place a second copy near the KORAD invention site with the precise location to be be reviewed by the history committee at a later date if it so desires.

The proposal is adequately described and supported by the references cited. The citation wording is concise and quite clear about the significance of the achievement being claimed. Consequently, I support approval. Dave Bart