So exciting. Been waiting years for Lisa, and many to go. But its gonna be crazy when its deployed!
Quote from: deadman1204 on 10/23/2024 04:09 pmSo exciting. Been waiting years for Lisa, and many to go. But its gonna be crazy when its deployed!Many many years. I've worked on a prototype of a subsystem more than 20 years ago. What's another 20. Maybe I'll see it fly?
Nov 22, 2024The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna - LISA is a set of 3 spacecraft which will work together to make a massive gravitational wave telescope in deep space, with arms millions of kilometers long it will be able to detect events at much lower frequencies, meaning we can detect black hole mergers months ahead of the event, and entirely new phenomena involving supermassive black holes.The LISA spacecraft at there core use free flying gold cubes as reference masses for the telescope arms, and managing these so that they remain in free fall is a core capability that was so critical to the success of the mission that they launched the LISA Pathfinder mission to test the technologies needed for the final mission to prove that the system would maintain the levels of control required for good science.
Teledyne Space Imaging has been awarded the role of prime contractor for the Constellation Acquisition Sensor instrument, contributing to the European Space Agency’s Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission.The UK imaging sensor manufacturer is using its capabilities in detector technology and prowess in proximity electronics to deliver six CIS220 detectors and the control electronics for the international space observation project. Teledyne will do this in partnership with Thales Alenia Space in Switzerland, who will be responsible for the optical head.
Exail, the France-headquartered photonics company, says it has won a contract with the French Space Agency (CNES) to develop and deliver an “ultra-stable” laser system for the planned Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission.
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center has a requirement for the design, development, fabrication, alignment, testing, verification, delivery, and associated post-delivery support services for the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) Engineering Test Unit (ETU) telescope. [...]To meet the LISA ETU telescope delivery date to ESA, NASA GSFC must continue the development and production of the LISA ETU telescope as soon as possible in order to receive the LISA ETU telescope no later than March 2028. Failure to deliver the ETU telescope in the required timeframe will result in significant cost impacts that cannot be absorbed by the LISA project. It will additionally result in unacceptable schedule impacts that would be magnified in the flight production phase and ultimately could result in the cancellation of the mission.
EXPLANATION OF MAJOR CHANGES IN FY 2026Given higher priorities within the agency, the request eliminates U.S contributions to the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) and Ultraviolet Transient Astronomy Satellite (ULTRASAT) missions and cancels PhysCOS SR&T, Euclid, Chandra, Fermi, and the PCOS/COR Technology Management Office projects
Today, the European Space Agency (ESA) and OHB System AG sealed their agreement to build ESA's Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, LISA. A bold scientific enterprise, the triple-spacecraft mission will be the first space-based observatory to study gravitational waves: ripples in spacetime caused by the most powerful events in the Universe, such as pairs of supermassive black holes colliding and merging.The signature event took place at the International Paris Air Show, in France, and officially kicks off the industrial development of the mission. In collaboration with the LISA team, OHB will now finalise the spacecraft design and begin its construction.“We are immensely proud that ESA and the scientific community entrust us to implement this groundbreaking science mission. Together with our partners we stand ready to bring LISA to life – pioneering our ability to ‘surf gravitational waves’ and enabling us to see our Universe in a new way,’ says Chiara Pedersoli, CEO of OHB System AG.“I’m delighted to celebrate the contract signing today with our partners at OHB who will lead on the implementation of this truly ambitious endeavour. LISA represents many years of pioneering technology developments, hope and belief of our scientific community, and steadfast support from our ESA member states. As the first space mission designed to capture gravitational waves, LISA will open a brand-new window on the dark Universe and test the known laws of physics to their extreme,” adds Prof. Carole Mundell, ESA’s Director of Science.“When it is flying, LISA will also represent the triumph of precision engineering and international cooperation on a new scale, and place Europe at the forefront of space technology and fundamental science.”LISA is a large-class mission to detect elusive ripples in spacetime. From its vantage point in space, LISA will capture gravitational waves of lower frequencies than is possible from Earth, uncovering events of a different scale – all the way back to the dawn of time.This will enable scientists to trace how massive black holes merge and grow across cosmic ages, explore the fundamental nature of gravity, and study the rate at which the Universe expands.In our own galaxy, LISA will give us new insights into the formation and evolution of tens of thousands of compact binary star systems, and advance our understanding of stellar-origin black holes.A constellation of three spacecraftTo achieve this feat, LISA is designed to be a constellation of three spacecraft. They will fly in a triangular formation, trailing Earth in its orbit around the Sun. Each side of the equilateral triangle will span 2.5 million km, more than six times the Earth-Moon distance.Flying a trio of spacecraft over such large distances has never been attempted before. And as if that were not difficult enough, the spacecraft will exchange laser beams with each other over their vast separation.The launch of the three spacecraft is planned for 2035, on an Ariane 6 rocket.Each spacecraft carries a pair of solid gold-platinum cubes, so-called test masses (slightly smaller than Rubik’s cubes), free-floating in special housings. Gravitational waves will cause tiny changes in the distances between the golden cubes in the different spacecraft.To capture the spacetime ripples, the mission will track these tiny shifts using the uniquely sensitive yardstick of laser interferometry – hence the mission’s name Laser Interferometer Space Antenna.This technique requires shooting laser beams from one spacecraft to the other and then superimposing their signal to determine changes in the masses’ distances down to a few billionths of a millimetre, or shifts of less than the diameter of a helium atom, over a distance of 2.5 million km.International partnershipLed by ESA, the LISA mission is a collaboration between ESA, its member states, NASA, and an international consortium of scientists (the LISA consortium).The spacecraft is being built and assembled by the industrial core team led by OHB together with Thales Alenia Space.Key hardware elements procured by ESA’s member states include the free-falling test masses shielded from external forces, provided by Italy and Switzerland; the picometre-accuracy systems to detect the interferometric signal, provided by Germany, the UK, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and the Czech Republic; and the Science Diagnostics Subsystem (an arsenal of sensors across the spacecraft), provided by Spain.
Thales Alenia Space will provide prime contractor OHB System AG with several mission-critical elements, including the spacecraft avionics and control software, the telecommunication system, and the drag-free and attitude control system (DFACS). The DFACS is a core component of the LISA mission. It will perform the “constellation acquisition” operation, consisting in establishing and maintaining the laser links between the satellites, and will compensate the non-gravitational forces on the spacecraft, such as solar radiation pressure, so that the test masses follow a purely geodesic motion along the satellite-to-satellite direction.Thales Alenia Space is also responsible for ensuring the exceptional electromagnetic, radiation, and self-gravity operational environment for the payload, essential to mission performance, for which Thales Alenia Space is also managing the budgets.Leonardo is also contributing with its technologies to the LISA mission with some key equipment, such as the micro propulsion assemblies, a highly precise system of thrusters used to control the satellite’s attitude with extreme accuracy.
Prospects in Theoretical Physics 2025: Gravitational Waves from Theory to ObservationTopic: Gravitational wave detection in space - the LISA missionSpeaker: Neil Cornish
The Executive intends to proceed with the release of an open, competitive tendering for the provision of the Telescope Assembly for the three LISA spacecraft, with three different contractual phases to be activated according to the evolution of the geopolitical scenario: Phase 1 ending with initial testing of the breadboard model expected Q4-26. (The activity may be stopped at this point and transferred under national funding.) Phase 2 ending at the delivery of the Qualification Model (TRL8) expected in 2029.Phase 3 ending at the delivery of the Flight HW for one spacecraft (activation of the Phase 3 foreseen at the end of 2028) expected in 2031.Phase 4 ending at the delivery of the hardware for the 3 spacecraft (activation of the Phase 4 foreseen at the end of 2028, but possible also later if required).[...]The envisaged timescale for the present procurement is as follows: • 24 September 2025: IPC Procurement Proposal approval • Sep 2025: ITT preparation and release • Oct/Nov 2025: Bid preparation • Dec 2025: Bid evaluation • Dec 2025: Endorsement by Special SPC • 28 January 2026: Contract Proposal approval at IPC • February 2026: Negotiations and contract KOWith this timescale, and the kick-off of the industrial activities in February, the Executive expects to demonstrate TRL6 in 2027 and achieve TRL8 in 2029 (with Qualification Model).
An important milestone has just been reached in the implementation of the European Space Agency's (ESA) LISA mission, which will aim to detect gravitational waves from space. Construction of the first model of a central element of the mission, the electrode housing , has been completed. This was achieved thanks to the supervision and €300,000 in funding from the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), which entrusted its construction to OHB Italia SpA.[...]A key component of the GRS (Gravitational Reference Systems) is a gold and platinum cube, called a test mass, the object that the laser beams will reflect off and whose displacement will indicate the passage of a gravitational wave. Each test mass will be housed inside an electrode housing, the first model of which has just been completed.The electrode housing is a micrometer-precise mechanical device made of molybdenum, designed to shield the test mass from external disturbances, hold it in place with electrodes, and, with the aid of LED light, change its electrical charge. Now that the engineering model of the electrode housing has been created, it will be gold-plated in an operation supervised by the ASI and will undergo complex ground testing.“The engineering model will be used as a prototype for the creation of the qualification models of the electrode housing , up to the flight models , which must be ready between 2030 and early 2032, in preparation for the launch of the LISA satellites scheduled for 2035,” explains Carlo Zanoni, an engineer at the TIFPA-INFN research center, who coordinates the development of the GRS and oversaw the technical-administrative process for the creation of this model. “Starting the supply chain for the construction of this precision jewel represents an essential step towards the flight program. Equally important will be the use of this electrode housing in the experimental tests that will allow us to simulate space conditions, which we will conduct both in Trento and in collaboration with CERN.”
Today, the European Space Agency (ESA) and OHB System AG sealed their agreement to build ESA's Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, LISA. A bold scientific enterprise, the triple-spacecraft mission will be the first space-based observatory to study gravitational waves: ripples in spacetime caused by the most powerful events in the Universe, such as pairs of supermassive black holes colliding and merging.
The signature event took place at the International Paris Air Show, in France, and officially kicks off the industrial development of the mission. In collaboration with the LISA team, OHB will now finalise the spacecraft design and begin its construction.“We are immensely proud that ESA and the scientific community entrust us to implement this groundbreaking science mission. Together with our partners we stand ready to bring LISA to life – pioneering our ability to ‘surf gravitational waves’ and enabling us to see our Universe in a new way,’ says Chiara Pedersoli, CEO of OHB System AG.“I’m delighted to celebrate the contract signing today with our partners at OHB who will lead on the implementation of this truly ambitious endeavour. LISA represents many years of pioneering technology developments, hope and belief of our scientific community, and steadfast support from our ESA member states. As the first space mission designed to capture gravitational waves, LISA will open a brand-new window on the dark Universe and test the known laws of physics to their extreme,” adds Prof. Carole Mundell, ESA’s Director of Science.“When it is flying, LISA will also represent the triumph of precision engineering and international cooperation on a new scale, and place Europe at the forefront of space technology and fundamental science.”LISA is a large-class mission to detect elusive ripples in spacetime. From its vantage point in space, LISA will capture gravitational waves of lower frequencies than is possible from Earth, uncovering events of a different scale – all the way back to the dawn of time.This will enable scientists to trace how massive black holes merge and grow across cosmic ages, explore the fundamental nature of gravity, and study the rate at which the Universe expands.In our own galaxy, LISA will give us new insights into the formation and evolution of tens of thousands of compact binary star systems, and advance our understanding of stellar-origin black holes.
The mission has three spacecraft flying in a triangular formation, 2.5 million km apart, exchanging laser beams. Inside them, two golden cubes are in free fall. Gravitational waves alter the distance between objects so LISA will measure the tiny distance changes between the cubes.The industrial development of LISA kicked off mid 2025. Once the spacecraft design is finalised, construction can begin.The mission is planned to launch in 2035.
