urn:nasa:pds:context:instrument:nlr.near 1.1 1.14.0.0 Product_Context 2023-05-12 1.1 Removed extraneous external references, replaced description with a short summary, and added NAIF instrument ID and Type List Area 2016-10-01 1.0 extracted metadata from PDS3 catalog and modified to comply with PDS4 Information Model urn:nasa:pds:context:instrument_host:spacecraft.near instrument_to_instrument_host Cole, T., M. Boies, A. El-Dinary, A.F. Cheng, M. Zuber, and D.E. Smith, The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous Laser Altimeter, Space Science Reviews, Vol. 82, pp. 217-253, 1997. reference.COLEETAL1997 Zuber, M., D.E. Smith, A.F. Cheng, and T.D. Cole, The NEAR Laser Ranging Investigation, Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 102, pp. 23761-23773, 1997. reference.ZUBERETAL1997 NEAR LASER RANGEFINDER Altimeter -93006 The Near Laser Rangefinder (NLR) was a laser altimeter that measured the distance from the spacecraft to the asteroid surface by sending out a short burst of laser light and then recording the time required for the signal to return from the asteroid. It used a chromium-doped neodymium/yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Cr-Nd-YAG) solid-state laser and a compact reflecting telescope. It sent a small portion of each emitted laser pulse through an optical fiber of known length and into the receiver, providing a continuous in-flight calibration of the timing circuit. The ranging data were used to construct a global shape model and a global topographic map of Eros with horizontal resolution of about 300 m. The NLR also measured detailed topographic profiles of surface features on Eros with a best spatial resolution of under 5 m. These topographic profiles enhanced and complemented the study of surface morphology from imaging.