The speed of light is . Since the average distance from the Earth to the Moon is about for travel time we get
(1)
In order to measure the distance with an accuracy of about it is necessary to measure the time (1) with an accuracy of up to
(2)
To compute the lunar distance precisely, many factors must be considered in addition to the round-trip time of about 2.5 seconds. These factors include the location of the Moon in the sky, the relative motion of Earth and the Moon, Earth's rotation, velocity of light in various parts of air, propagation delay through atmosphere, the location of the observing station and its motion [1].
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Laser_Ranging_experiment
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