05/26/09 — The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has announced the development of an ultra-precise laser-ranging system that combines two different approaches to range-finding and an “optical frequency comb”—a set of spectrometry tools that can precisely identify the color of light from specific sources. The system combines time-of-flight method of distance ranging and interferometry, a technique that usually involves splitting a single beam at its source and recombining them at the destination, to measure distance or other influences by the difference between the two beams. Inteferometry is frequently used in fiberoptic telecommunications, astronomy and other laser-using specialties. Using the two…