LISA Pathfinder Surpasses Expectations (Sky & Telescope)

[eppur_se_muova]

By: David Dickinson | June 8, 2016

LISA Pathfinder is now open for business and working better than researchers had hoped.

The announcement came June 7th during a press conference held at the European Space Astronomy Centre in Madrid, Spain, and was published today in Physical Review Letters.

“LISA Pathfinder's test masses are now still with respect to each other to an astonishing degree,” said Alvaro Giménez (ESA) in a press release.

LISA Pathfinder won't detect gravitational waves. Instead, the mission is a technology-validation platform, set to overcome technical challenges and prove that the full-scale Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission is possible.
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more: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/update-on-lisa-pathfinder/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=sky-mya-nl-160610&utm_content=853259_SKY_HP_eNL_160610&utm_medium=email

[PJMcK]

1. This is fantastic science news!

Thanks for finding and posting this article, eppur. This is really amazing science.

When LIGO announced their detection of gravitational waves, I was astonished by the scale of measurement they were able to achieve: "A change in the lengths of the arms smaller than one-ten-thousandth the diameter of a proton (10-19 meter) can be detected."

With LISA, the possibility to increase the distance between the interferometers to a much larger scale than LIGO. (Note: I think I've expressed that correctly.)