1 00:00:00,030 --> 00:00:04,040 0.2 microradians. That's the 2 00:00:04,060 --> 00:00:08,060 angle of pointing stability of the ATLAS laser. If you 3 00:00:08,080 --> 00:00:12,120 placed a silver dollar 28 miles away from ATLAS, the laser's center 4 00:00:12,140 --> 00:00:16,140 would stay on the coin. That kind of stability is absolutely 5 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:20,160 critical for the spacecraft to measure the height of Earth from orbit. 6 00:00:20,180 --> 00:00:24,220 To ensure pointing stability, ATLAS uses the Beam Steering Mechanism, 7 00:00:24,240 --> 00:00:28,260 which is a motorized mirror that moves to compensate for thermal changes 8 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:32,290 that happen in orbit and prevents the ATLAS beams from bending as they head 9 00:00:32,310 --> 00:00:37,013 for Earth. [music]