Scientists see the light (From Oxford Mail)

Scientists see the light

Scientists in Culham have created a laser which could one day be used to help land spacecraft on Mars.

Scientists see the light

The hi-tech LIDAR laser imaging system has been developed by Culham-based ABSL Space Products after a £900,000 European Space Agency investment.

Scientist Dr Joe Nawasra – pictured left with Karam Parmar and the LIDAR laser imaging system – said: “We face extremely challenging requirements. It has to work in a vacuum, in micro-gravity and in extreme temperatures.”

The system can detect light bouncing back from the laser to calculate how far away an object is and guide spacecraft.

Mounted on a satellite and looking back at the Earth, it could one day be used to detect earthquakes.