Related papers: Satellites testing general relativity: residuals v…
We introduce the LARES 2 space experiment recently approved by the Italian Space Agency (ASI). The LARES 2 satellite is planned for launch in 2019 with the new VEGA C launch vehicle of ASI, ESA and ELV. The orbital analysis of LARES 2…
With quantitative numerical simulations we show that the secular variations of the even zonal harmonics of the geopotential do affect the measurement of the Lense-Thirring effect with the nodes of LAGEOS and LAGEOS II at a \sim 14% level.…
The two LAGEOS and LARES are laser-ranged satellites tracked with the best accuracy ever achieved. Using their range measurements many geophysical parameters were calculated and some General Relativity effects were directly observed. To…
In this paper we investigate the opportunities offered by the new Earth gravity models from the dedicated CHAMP and, especially, GRACE missions to the project of measuring the general relativistic Lense-Thirring effect with a new Earth's…
In this note, we reply to the preceding paper by Iorio: "Some considerations on the present-day results for the detection of frame-dragging after the final outcome of GP-B, Europhysics Letters", we address criticisms regarding the…
After the approval by the Italian Space Agency of the LARES satellite, which should be launched at the end of 2009 with a VEGA rocket and whose claimed goal is a about 1% measurement of the general relativistic gravitomagnetic…
In the previous paper we have introduced the LARES 2 space experiment. The LARES 2 laser-ranged satellite is planned for a launch in 2019 with the new VEGA C launch vehicle of the Italian Space Agency (ASI), ESA and ELV. The main objectives…
One of the most famous classical tests of General Relativity is the gravitoelectric secular advance of the pericenter of a test body in the gravitational field of a central mass. In this paper we explore the possibility of performing a…
In this paper we analyze quantitatively the concept of LAGEOS--type satellites in critical supplementary orbit configuration (CSOC) which has proven capable of yielding various observables for many tests of General Relativity in the…
LAGEOS is an accurately-tracked, dense spherical satellite covered with 426 retroreflectors. The tracking accuracy is such as to yield a medium term (years to decades) inertial reference frame determined via relatively inexpensive…
We consider a nearly free falling Earth satellite where atomic wave interferometers are tied to a telescope pointing towards a faraway star. They measure the acceleration and the rotation relatively to the local inertial frame. We calculate…
Rotation of a body, according to Einstein's theory of general relativity, generates a "force" on other matter; in Newton's gravitational theory only the mass of a body produces a force. This phenomenon, due to currents of mass, is known as…
The general relativistic Lense-Thirring effect can be measured by inspecting a suitable combination of the orbital residuals of the nodes of LAGEOS and LAGEOS II and the perigee of LAGEOS II. The solid and ocean Earth tides affect the…
The precession of the orbital node of a particle orbiting a rotating mass is known as Lense-Thirring effect (LTE) and is a manifestation of the general relativistic phenomenon of dragging of inertial frames or frame-dragging. The LTE has…
The detection of some tiny gravitomagnetic effects in the field of the Earth by means of artificial satellites is a very demanding task because of the various other perturbing forces of gravitational and non-gravitational origin acting upon…
The Gravity Probe B (GP-B) satellite experiment will measure the precession of on-board gyroscopes to extraordinary accuracy. Such precessions are predicted by General Relativity (GR), and one component of this precession is the…
Recently, Ciufolini and coworkers announced the forthcoming launch of a new cannonball geodetic satellite in 2019. It should be injected in an essentially circular path with the same semimajor axis $a$ of LAGEOS, in orbit since 1976, and an…
In two analyses of orbital data from the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, Iorio [1,2] has claimed confirmation of the frame-dragging effect predicted by general relativity. Initially to an accuracy of 6%, and now 0.5%, exceeding the…
The impact of possible a-priori "imprinting" effects of general relativity itself on recent attempts to measure the Lense-Thirring precessions with the LAGEOS satellites orbiting the Earth and the terrestrial geopotential models by the…
In this paper we reply to recent claims by Ciufolini and Pavlis about certain aspects of the measurement of the general relativistic Lense-Thirring effect in the gravitational field of the Earth. I) The proposal by such authors of using the…