Author Topic: ESA - LISA Pathfinder updates  (Read 48913 times)

Offline Star One

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ESA/NASA - LISA Pathfinder updates
« Reply #20 on: 01/12/2016 09:36 am »
Looking increasingly likely that in any race to discover Gravitational waves that this whole undertaking will be well beaten by Advanced LIGO if results pan out.

http://gizmodo.com/rumors-are-flying-that-we-may-have-finally-found-gravit-1752259868
« Last Edit: 01/12/2016 12:08 pm by Star One »

Offline Alpha_Centauri

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Re: ESA/NASA - LISA Pathfinder updates
« Reply #21 on: 01/12/2016 12:45 pm »
Just a rumour so far, but even if the team believes they might have found something it could be a blind injection test; http://www.ligo.org/news/blind-injection.php , wouldn't know til the last minute.

Besides, LISA/eLISA/whatever is not hinged on being the first to directly confirm gravitational waves. LISA was designed to be complementary to the ground-based experiments as it will be able to see the arguably more interesting low frequency waves that they cannot and with better precision, many more sources, and better source identification. LISA is more like an observatory rather than a lab experiment.
« Last Edit: 01/12/2016 02:43 pm by Alpha_Centauri »

Online woods170

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Re: ESA/NASA - LISA Pathfinder updates
« Reply #22 on: 01/12/2016 01:14 pm »
Looking increasingly likely that in any race to discover Gravitational waves that this whole undertaking will be well beaten by Advanced LIGO if results pan out.

http://gizmodo.com/rumors-are-flying-that-we-may-have-finally-found-gravit-1752259868

A. There is no such race.
B. The chances of Advanced LIGO indeed having observed gravitational waves is estimated (as quoted in the article) to be 15 percent at most.

Offline Star One

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Re: ESA/NASA - LISA Pathfinder updates
« Reply #23 on: 01/12/2016 03:10 pm »

Looking increasingly likely that in any race to discover Gravitational waves that this whole undertaking will be well beaten by Advanced LIGO if results pan out.

http://gizmodo.com/rumors-are-flying-that-we-may-have-finally-found-gravit-1752259868

A. There is no such race.
B. The chances of Advanced LIGO indeed having observed gravitational waves is estimated (as quoted in the article) to be 15 percent at most.

A. Of course there is a race, there's always a race for new discoveries like this.

B. Doesn't mean that they haven't discovered something.

Offline Jester

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Re: ESA/NASA - LISA Pathfinder updates
« Reply #24 on: 01/13/2016 09:31 am »
Laser has been switched on successfully.

Offline Lillmalen

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Re: ESA/NASA - LISA Pathfinder updates
« Reply #25 on: 01/22/2016 03:57 pm »

Online plutogno

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Re: ESA/NASA - LISA Pathfinder updates
« Reply #26 on: 01/23/2016 06:59 am »
what happens next to the spent propulsion stage? solar orbit or a distant Earth orbit?

Offline russianhalo117

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Re: ESA/NASA - LISA Pathfinder updates
« Reply #27 on: 01/23/2016 11:44 pm »
what happens next to the spent propulsion stage? solar orbit or a distant Earth orbit?
It continues on an orbit past L1 around the sun like the Stereo SC's

Offline as58

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Re: ESA/NASA - LISA Pathfinder updates
« Reply #28 on: 02/05/2016 03:17 pm »
Not directly related to LISA Pathfinder or spaceflight at all, but rumours about Advanced LIGO detection are getting stronger and more specific. Supposedly, the announcement will be next week (Thursday?).

Offline Star One

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ESA/NASA - LISA Pathfinder updates
« Reply #29 on: 02/05/2016 07:07 pm »
Not directly related to LISA Pathfinder or spaceflight at all, but rumours about Advanced LIGO detection are getting stronger and more specific. Supposedly, the announcement will be next week (Thursday?).

There's a dedicated thread somewhere in here you might want to post that in.:)
« Last Edit: 02/05/2016 07:09 pm by Star One »

Offline bolun

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Re: ESA/NASA - LISA Pathfinder updates
« Reply #30 on: 02/06/2016 01:47 pm »
First locks released from LISA Pathfinder's cubes

03 February 2016

Today, the lock fingers that kept the two test masses on LISA Pathfinder secure during the launch and cruise phase were successfully unlocked. As planned, the two cubes are still attached to the spacecraft via an additional mechanism that will hold them in place until mid February, as the teams carry on with the spacecraft and payload commissioning.

http://sci.esa.int/lisa-pathfinder/57290-first-locks-released-from-lisa-pathfinders-cubes/

Image credit: ESA/ATG medialab
« Last Edit: 02/06/2016 08:21 pm by bolun »

Offline eeergo

Re: ESA/NASA - LISA Pathfinder updates
« Reply #31 on: 02/15/2016 07:23 am »
Quote from: @ESA_LPF 1h ago
The team are getting ready for the first test mass release #GOLPF

Quote from: @ESA_LPF 1m ago
Test mass 2 is free and under control. Many happy faces in the PISA!! #GOLPF
-DaviD-

Offline bolun

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Re: ESA/NASA - LISA Pathfinder updates
« Reply #32 on: 02/16/2016 11:13 am »
Freely Floating in space

At the core of LISA Pathfinder are the two test masses: a pair of identical 46 mm gold–platinum cubes, floating freely, several millimetres from the walls of their housings. The cubes are separated by 38 cm and linked only by laser beams to measure their position continuously.

During the science operations phase, microthrusters will make minuscule shifts in order to keep the spacecraft centred on one of the masses. This will isolate the two cubes from all external and internal forces except gravity, placing them in the most precise freefall ever obtained.

Related article: Test cubes floating freely inside LISA Pathfinder

http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2016/02/Freely_Floating_in_space

Image credit: ESA/ATG medialab

Offline Satt

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Re: ESA/NASA - LISA Pathfinder updates
« Reply #33 on: 02/16/2016 09:44 pm »
Fantastic, amazing, mind boggling science and engineering.
Satt.

Offline eeergo

Re: ESA/NASA - LISA Pathfinder updates
« Reply #34 on: 02/24/2016 03:17 pm »
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Freefall_achieved_on_LISA_Pathfinder

On the 19th, a brief test of drag-free conditions was achieved, applying no electrostatic potential along the cubes' sensitive axes to control their position. From two days ago, the spacecraft is being maneuvered around the cubes, keeping it centered around one. Next week, final science operations will begin.
-DaviD-

Offline eeergo

Re: ESA/NASA - LISA Pathfinder updates
« Reply #35 on: 03/01/2016 08:54 am »
Science mode started as scheduled !


Quote from: @ESA_LPF
2016-03-01 08:00:00UTC.....Science Operations have started!
« Last Edit: 03/01/2016 08:54 am by eeergo »
-DaviD-

Offline bolun

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Re: ESA/NASA - LISA Pathfinder updates
« Reply #36 on: 03/08/2016 06:28 pm »
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/A_perfectly_still_laboratory_in_space

Quote
LISA Pathfinder, however, is not capable of detecting gravitational waves itself. For this crucial technology demonstration, the two freefalling cubes are only 38 cm apart – too close to record the minute wobbles in the fabric of spacetime.

The variation in distance caused by a passing gravitational wave is so small that a full-scale space observatory will need test masses separated by roughly a million kilometres, and be able to detect changes in that separation of about one millionth of a millionth of a metre.

“The precision we need to attain for future observations of gravitational waves from space is so high that it demands an unprecedented understanding of the physical forces at play on the test masses,” says Paul McNamara, ESA’s Project Scientist.

Quote
“We are looking forward to demonstrating this thruster system and its ability to keep the two test masses extremely still,” says Charles Dunn, project technologist for the DRS at JPL.

The results of LISA Pathfinder's precision experiments will pave the way towards the L3 mission in ESA’s Cosmic Vision programme, a future project that will be dedicated to investigating the gravitational Universe by means of a large spaceborne observatory.

Offline Star One

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Re: ESA/NASA - LISA Pathfinder updates
« Reply #37 on: 04/18/2016 07:22 pm »
GOAT has given the thumbs up to LISA & even called for its launch to be brought forward by five years to 2029.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-36068599

Offline jacqmans

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Re: ESA/NASA - LISA Pathfinder updates
« Reply #38 on: 05/24/2016 01:20 pm »
Press Release
N°19-2016

Paris, 25 May 2016

Call for Media: First results from ESA's LISA Pathfinder mission

Media representatives are invited to a briefing on the first results from ESA's LISA Pathfinder mission, a technology demonstrator for the observation of gravitational waves from space.

The media briefing is being organised by the European Space Agency at the European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) in Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain, on Tuesday, 7 June, 11:30-13:00 CEST. Doors open at 11:00 CEST [times TBC].

Launched in December 2015, LISA Pathfinder travelled to its operational orbit, 1.5 million km from Earth towards the Sun, where it started its scientific mission on 1 March. At the core of the spacecraft, two identical gold-platinum cubes, are being
held in the most precise freefall ever produced in space.

Placing the test masses in a motion subject only to gravity is the challenging condition needed to build and operate a future space mission to observe gravitational waves. Predicted by Albert Einstein a century ago, gravitational waves are fluctuations
in the fabric of spacetime, which were recently detected directly for the first time by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory. 

Over the first two months of scientific operations, the LISA Pathfinder team has performed a number of experiments on the test masses to prove the feasibility of gravitational wave observation from space. These results will be presented at the media
briefing.

Programme outline

11:30-11:40 - Fabio Favata, Head of the Coordination Office, ESA Directorate of Science

Opening up the gravitational Universe for ESA's Science Programme 

11:40-11:50 - Paul McNamara, ESA LISA Pathfinder Project Scientist
- LISA Pathfinder: A new way to look at our Universe

11:50-12:00 - Martin Hewitson, LISA Pathfinder Deputy Primary Investigator, University of Hanover
- LISA Pathfinder optical metrology performance

12:00-12:10 - Stefano Vitale, LISA Pathfinder Primary Investigator, University of Trento
- LISA Pathfinder first results

12:10-13:00 - Question and Answer sessions and opportunity for individual interviews


Attending

For accreditation, media can register at: 

https://myconvento.com/public/event_register/index/1351840

Please register by 6 June at 12:00 CEST.

How to get to ESAC: http://www.esa.int/About_Us/ESAC/Getting_to_ESAC

Follow online

Webstreaming

Livestream.com/esa

Social media

Twitter: @esascience and @ESA_LPF, hashtag #LisaPathfinder 

Reddit: an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session with mission experts on the reddit social media platform, where users may ask all kinds of questions, will be conducted from 16:00 to 17:00 CEST (14:00 to 15:00 GMT) on 7 June at https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA

Jacques :-)

Online plutogno

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