The project operates independently of funding cycles and politics, enduring beyond its founding institutions through ongoing international collaboration.

The Apollo-era facilities have achieved a median nightly ranging accuracy of about 1.7 millimeters over 15 years, enabling high-precision tests of gravity and fundamental physics.

Lunar laser ranging has tested general relativity with tight bounds on the equivalence principle and gravitational constant stability, constraining deviations from Einstein’s theory.

A laser ranging experiment at Apache Point Observatory sends green laser pulses to the Moon, where photons reflect off retroreflector panels left by Apollo missions and Lunokhod rovers, enabling distance measurements with millimeter precision.

The lunar reflectors withstand harsh conditions with only modest degradation from dust and temperature swings, continuing to supply data for geodesy and planetary science.

The Moon is receding from Earth at about 3.8 centimeters per year due to tidal friction, a change that slowly lengthens Earth's day and will affect eclipses over time.

Future data from Differential Lunar Laser Ranging could dramatically improve estimates of the Moon’s interior structure and orientation, refining insights into the Moon’s core properties.

Active reflectors include Apollo 11, Apollo 14, Apollo 15 panels, and Lunokhod mirrors, which require no power or maintenance and have outlasted many powered missions.

A new generation of retroreflectors is in development or deployment, such as NASA’s Next Generation Lunar Retroreflector (NGLR-1) and additional reflectors on CLPS landers, to boost precision and expand the network.