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LISA Pathfinder
is a mission that will test the general concepts and
technologies needed for highly accurate formation flying and
precise measurement of the separation between two very distant
spacecraft. This technology is essential for future ESA
missions, such as LISA, which aim to detect subtle gravitational
waves.
(Photo by ESA,
Illustration by Medialab) |
PARIS, Oct. 27, 2006/Satnews Daily/ —
Alcatel Alenia Space has announced that it will develop and deliver
on-board and ground segments equipment for the LISA Pathfinder program.
LISA Pathfinder will provide in-orbit testing and
validation for the new concepts and technologies that will be used on
European Space Agency (ESA)/NASA's Laser Interferometry Space Antenna
(LISA) mission, which aims to detect and measure interplanetary
gravitational waves.
The LISA mission, the world's first space-based gravity wave detector,
will consist of test masses contained in three spacecrafts flying
approximately 5 million kilometres apart in a equilateral triangle
formation. They will act as an interferometer and will measure the
distortion of space causes by passing gravitational waves coming from
massive black holes and galactic binaries. LISA Pathfinder, which will
be launched in 2009, will use test masses only 30 cm apart and placed on
a single spacecraft.
Alcatel Alenia Space will provide the X-band transponder, one of the key
spacecraft units that will act as the unique interface between the
satellite and the ground segment. It receives commands from the ground
segment and transmits spacecraft telemetries, instrument information and
ranging signals.
Alcatel Alenia will also provide the Power Specific
Check-Out Equipment hardware and software, simulating the solar panels
and the batteries, and is dedicated to test the spacecraft's power
sub-system during assembly, integration and validation phases. Units
will be delivered to EADS Space, the satellite prime contractor, between
2007 and end of 2008.
In the scientific instrumentation domain, Alcatel Alenia will develop
crucial mission equipment dedicated to measuring gravitational waves,
such as test masses, the caging mechanism to guarantee the safe blocking
of the test masses during launch as well as the Electric Propulsion
Diagnostic Package dedicated to monitoring and characterizing the
environment induced by the electric propulsion on board the spacecraft.
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