The Ground Laser Receiver at the Helmos Observatory

On 7 July, at the Kryoneri Observatory, located in southern Greece, a powerful laser beacon has directed toward NASA’s Psyche spacecraft. Though it carries no data, the beacon is designed to be so precisely targeted that the DSOC experiment onboard Psyche can lock onto it and send a return signal back to Earth. That return signal is then captured by the Helmos Observatory, situated 37 km away on a neighbouring mountain peak.

 The Ground Laser Receiver takes the form of a sophisticated receiver unit known as an ‘optical bench’. This single-photon sensitive receiver unit will be securely mounted to the rear of the 2.3 m Aristarchos telescope, located at 2340 m on the site of Helmos Observatory.