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Abstract
LISA Pathfinder (LPF), the second of the European Space Agency's Small Missions for Advanced Research in Technology (SMART), is a dedicated technology validation mission for future spaceborne gravitational wave detectors, such as the proposed eLISA mission. LISA Pathfinder, and its scientific payload - the LISA Technology Package - will test, in flight, the critical technologies required for low frequency gravitational wave detection: it will put two test masses in a near-perfect gravitational free-fall and control and measure their motion with unprecedented accuracy. This is achieved through technology comprising inertial sensors, high precision laser metrology, drag-free control and an ultra-precise micro-Newton propulsion system. LISA Pathfinder is due to be launched in mid-2015, with first results on the performance of the system being available 6 months thereafter.
The paper introduces the LISA Pathfinder mission, followed by an explanation of the physical principles of measurement concept and associated hardware. We then provide a detailed discussion of the LISA Technology Package, including both the inertial sensor and interferometric readout. As we approach the launch of the LISA Pathfinder, the focus of the development is shifting towards the science operations and data analysis - this is described in the final section of the paper
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Details
1 European Space Astronomy Centre, European Space Agency, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692 Madrid, Spain
2 Albert-Einstein-Institut, Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik und Universität Hannover, 30167 Hannover, Germany
3 APC UMR7164, Université Paris Diderot, Paris, France
4 The Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, UK
5 Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Trento, via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, and Trento Institute for Fundamental Physics and Application / INFN, Italy
6 Airbus Defence and Space, Claude-Dornier-Strasse, 88090 Immenstaad, Germany
7 CGS S.p.A, Compagnia Generale per lo Spazio, Via Gallarate, 150 - 20151 Milano, Italy
8 European Space Technology Centre, European Space Agency, Keplerlaan 1, 2200 AG Noordwijk, The Netherlands
9 Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Trento and Trento Institute for Fundamental Physics and Application / INFN, 38123 Povo, Trento, Italy
10 Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
11 Airbus Defence and Space, Gunnels Wood Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SG1 2AS, UK
12 Institut für Geophysik, ETH Zürich, Sonneggstrasse 5, CH-8092, Zürich, Switzerland
13 Institut de Ciències de l'Espai (CSIC-IEEC), Campus UAB, Facultat de Ciències, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain
14 Istituto di Fisica, Universita degli Studi di Urbino/ INFN Urbino (PU), Italy
15 European Space Operations Centre, European Space Agency, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
16 Physik Institut, Universitat Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland
17 SUPA, Institute for Gravitational Research, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK
18 Department d'Enginyeria Electrònica, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, 08034 Barcelona, Spain; Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC), C/ Gran Capità 2-4, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
19 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA