2003/01/07 by Kenneth Nordtvedt, Nordtvedt, Kenneth
Physics and Astronomy · #History and Developments in Astronomy #Planetary Science and Exploration #Relativity and Gravitational Theory #gr-qc
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.gr-qc/0301024
19 pages, 3 figures, PCTex32 v3.4, for proceedings of Villa Mondragone International School of Gravitation and Cosmology, September 2002
arxiv created 2003/01/07 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30
More than 30 years of lunar laser ranging has produced several key tests of gravitational theory, including confirmation that bodies fall in external gravity at rates independent of their internal gravitational binding energy, and that Newton's G is constant to a part in 1012 per year precision. The fitting of LLR data depends on the entire scope of 1/c2 order features of the gravitational equation of motion, including non-linearity, gravitomagnetism, and inductive inertial forces.