{"id":15998,"date":"2015-10-13T01:02:53","date_gmt":"2015-10-12T17:02:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/launch-campaign-begins-for-europes-trailblazing-gravity-probe\/"},"modified":"2015-10-13T01:02:53","modified_gmt":"2015-10-12T17:02:53","slug":"launch-campaign-begins-for-europes-trailblazing-gravity-probe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/launch-campaign-begins-for-europes-trailblazing-gravity-probe\/","title":{"rendered":"Launch campaign begins for Europe\u2019s trailblazing gravity probe"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"ESA's
ESA\u2019s LISA Pathfinder spacecraft is seen inside IABG\u2019s test center near Munich on Aug. 31. Credit: ESA\u2013P. Sebirot, 2015<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A compact European space probe, already fitted with a propulsive boost stage to send it a million miles from Earth, has arrived at its French Guiana launch base for liftoff in early December aboard a solid-fueled Vega rocket.<\/p>\n

The craft\u2019s mission is experimental, aimed at proving out the technical apparatus required to detect gravitational waves, ripples in the fabric of spacetime predicted by Albert Einstein\u2019s theory of general relativity.<\/p>\n

Known as LISA Pathfinder, the mission has cost the European Space Agency about 430 million euros ($490 million), but it is just the first step in a long-term program to study the \u201cinvisible universe\u201d by observing unseen gravity waves created from the motion of massive objects like black holes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an extremely challenging mission that will pave the way for future space-based projects to observe gravitational waves, opening a new window to explore the cosmos,\u201d said Paul McNamara, ESA\u2019s LISA Pathfinder project scientist.<\/p>\n

Lasers buried inside the LISA Pathfinder spacecraft will measure the motion of two gold-platinum alloy cubes 46 millimeters (1.8 inches) on a side. Free-floating inside vacuum enclosures, the motion of the cubes will be measured to one thousandth of one millionth of a millimeter.<\/p>\n

Micro-thrusters mounted outside the probe, coupled with specialized control software, will carefully regulate the movement of the spacecraft to keep the gold-platinum test masses floating inside their housings. The goal of the spacecraft is to keep the test cubes floating in an electrostatic field free from outside influence, demonstrating the masses can remain in near-perfect free-fall.<\/p>\n

\"Artist's
Artist\u2019s concept of LISA Pathfinder and its expendable propulsion module after launch. Credit: Airbus Defense and Space<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Such an achievement is vital to an ambitious multi-spacecraft gravity wave observatory planned for launch by ESA in the 2030s. Instead of having two free-floating 38 centimeters (15 inches) apart, the future mission will attempt to measure the exact distances between test masses up to millions of kilometers apart.<\/p>\n

\u201cGravitational waves are an entirely fresh and different way to study the universe, providing an important complement to the well-established approach of astronomy, based on observing the light emitted by celestial bodies,\u201d McNamara said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The spacecraft flew inside an Antonov An-124 cargo plane from London Stansted Airport, near LISA Pathfinder\u2019s factory at Airbus Defense and Space, the mission\u2019s prime industrial contractor, to the European-run spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on Oct. 8.<\/p>\n

After landing at the airport in French Guiana\u2019s capital city, Cayenne, the spacecraft was trucked to the Guiana Space Center to begin final preflight processing.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Antonov An-124 transport aircraft carrying LISA Pathfinder is seen at Cayenne\u2019s F\u00e9lix Ebou\u00e9 Airport. Credit: ESA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The spacecraft came from Europe to South America in launch configuration, according to Cesar Garcia Marirrodriga, ESA\u2019s project manager.<\/p>\n

Final checks on the probe will be completed in the coming weeks, followed by fueling of the craft\u2019s purpose-built propulsion module. Technicians will also install the flight clamp band connecting LISA Pathfinder\u2019s propulsion and science modules, Marirrodriga told Spaceflight Now via email.<\/p>\n

Then the 1,910-kilogram (4,210-pound) spacecraft will be hoisted atop the four-stage Vega booster inside its payload shroud in November.<\/p>\n

Liftoff is set for Dec. 2 at 0415 GMT (11:15 p.m. EST on Dec. 1) aboard the sixth flight of Europe\u2019s new lightweight Vega launcher.<\/p>\n

Assembly of the Vega booster began in late September with the mounting of the rocket\u2019s first stage P80 solid rocket motor at its launch pad in French Guiana.<\/p>\n

\"The
The first stage P80 motor for the Vega rocket is moved to the launch pad for the LISA Pathfinder mission. Credit: ESA\/CNES\/Arianespace \u2013 Photo Optique Video du CSG \u2013 P. Baudon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Vega\u2019s fourth stage kick engine will put LISA Pathfinder into an an elliptical orbit around Earth, then the craft\u2019s on-board propulsion module will fire six times to boost its altitude higher over a two-week orbit-raising phase. The probe will eventually pick up the speed necessary escape orbit and fly to the L1 Lagrange point, a gravitationally stable spot about 1.5 million kilometers (930,000 miles) on the sun\u2019s side of the Earth.<\/p>\n

The spacecraft will jettison its disposable propulsion module after it is on course for its operating post at L1.<\/p>\n

LISA Pathfinder will enter a looping orbit around the L1 Lagrange point around the beginning of February, followed by a six-month prime operational mission phase.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe extreme precision of measurements and control required in this domain pose a great technical challenge,\u201d Marirrodriga said in a statement. \u201cIn fact, everything was a challenge in this brand-new class of missions: from the innovative instrumentation, to the new modelling of self-gravitation within the spacecraft, and the very complex integration tests of the spacecraft.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe industrial and scientific teams that undertook these daunting tasks have done an extraordinary job, and now the mission is ready for launch,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ESA\u2019s LISA Pathfinder spacecraft is seen inside IABG\u2019s test center near Munich on Aug. 31. Credit: ESA\u2013P. Sebirot, 2015 A compact European space probe, already fitted with a propulsive boost stage to send it a million miles from Earth, has arrived at its French Guiana launch base for liftoff in early December aboard a solid-fueled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[498,831,1773,2310,3243,1311,3244],"class_list":["post-15998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-arianespace","tag-european-space-agency","tag-guiana-space-center","tag-l1-lagrange-point","tag-lisa-pathfinder","tag-vega","tag-vv06"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15998"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15998\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}