Extending the ICESAT-2 ATLAS Lidar Capabilities to Other Planets Within Our Solar System

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Several problems:

• p2, line 6: into a 00 km high orbit
• p3,line 20, wincreased 
• p4, please define DPDE befor use it
• p5, el time. is maximized

Author Response

Thank you for pointing out the typographical errors. They have been corrected.

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The paper is well written and discusses the boundary conditions of interplanetary optical data transfer utilizing lidar ranging techniques. It outlines beneficial lidar mapping scenarios and important aspects for the necessary data transfer, an aspect which turns out to be quite a challenge. 

Throughout the entire document there are a few missing characters. Most prominently in line 2 of the second paragraph of the introduction, where ICESat-2 was certainly not put into an 00 km high orbit. This should be corrected. 

As a matter of style I would suggest that 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 as well as table 2 should match the  paper layout. A similar suggestion applies to the paragraph below eq. 13. Other than that, I recommend to accept the paper for publication. 

Author Response

Thank you for your review. I have made multiple changes and added additional referenced material.

 

John Degnan

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This paper presents a well-structured and highly innovative approach to extending the proven ATLAS lidar technology from ICESat-2 to planetary exploration across the solar system. The proposed integration of lidar mapping with interplanetary laser communication is particularly compelling and systematically analyzed.

Suggested Minor Revisions:

1. Briefly discuss potential mitigation strategies for atmospheric interference (e.g., cloud penetration, aerosol scattering).
2. Include a short discussion on the technological readiness of high-power lasers and large-aperture telescopes for outer planet missions.
3. Clarify the data handling and compression methods proposed for reducing bit rate.
4. Address the long-term reliability of components in deep space environments.

 

Author Response

Thank you for your kind review and thoughtful suggestions. I have added paragraphs to respond to items 1 and 3 in your suggested revisions. In response to items 2 and 4 in your review, I have included some links to recent experiments by NASA and European colleagues on laser links between Earth and Mars and the NASA Psyche program as well as a 2025 review of related technologies.

John Degnan