Related papers: Precision Charge Control for Isolated Free-Falling…
Electrostatic charge control of isolated free-falling test masses is a key enabling technology for space-based gravitational missions. Contact-free electrostatic charge control can be achieved using photoelectron emission from metal…
This article presents a detailed overview and assessment of contact-free UV light discharge systems (UVDS) needed to control the variable electric charge level of free-flying test masses which are part of high precision inertial sensors in…
A comprehensive summary of the measurements made to characterize test mass charging due to the space environment during the LISA Pathfinder mission is presented. Measurements of the residual charge of the test mass after release by the…
We report on electrostatic measurements made on board the European Space Agency mission LISA Pathfinder. Detailed measurements of the charge-induced electrostatic forces exerted on free-falling test masses (TMs) inside the capacitive…
We present a passive ultraviolet charge management system for the fused silica test masses in ground-based laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors. The system uses photoelectron emission from low work-function gold coatings…
The UV LED mission demonstrates the precise control of the potential of electrically isolated test masses that is essential for the operation of space accelerometers and drag free sensors. Accelerometers and drag free sensors were and…
The LISA Pathfinder mission will demonstrate the technology of drag-free test masses for use as inertial references in future space-based gravitational wave detectors. To accomplish this, the Pathfinder spacecraft will perform drag-free…
LISA-Pathfinder is an ESA space mission flown between 2015 and 2017 to demonstrate a technological maturity sufficient for building a gravitational waves telescope in space, such as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). A pair of…
Test mass charging caused by cosmic rays will be a significant source of acceleration noise for space-based gravitational wave detectors like LISA. Operating between December 2015 and July 2017, the technology demonstration mission LISA…
Cubic gold-platinum free-falling test masses (TMs) constitute the mirrors of future LISA and LISA-like interferometers for low-frequency gravitational wave detection in space. High-energy particles of Galactic and solar origin charge the…
LISA Pathfinder is a science and technology demonstrator of the European Space Agency within the framework of its LISA mission, the latter aiming to be the first space-borne gravitational wave observatory. The payload of LISA Pathfinder is…
Free floating Test Masses (TM) of inertial reference instruments accumulate charge mainly through the triboelectric effect during separation from their housings and, if in the space environment, from cosmic radiation. These charges will…
LISA PathFinder (LPF) will be flown with the objective to test in space key technologies for LISA. However its sensitivity goals are, for good reason, one order of magnitude less than those which LISA will have to meet, both in drag-free…
The Drag-Free and Attitude Control System is a central element of LISA technology, ensuring the very high dynamic stability of spacecraft and test masses required in order to reach the sensitivity that gravitational wave astronomy in space…
LISA Pathfinder is the technological demonstrator space mission for the future gravitational waves observatory in space eLISA, with the aim of measure the differential acceleration between free-falling test masses orbiting in the same…
We report on the results of the LISA Pathfinder (LPF) free-fall mode experiment, in which the control force needed to compensate the quasistatic differential force acting on two test masses is applied intermittently as a series of "impulse"…
For the charge management system in gravitational wave detection missions, a continuous discharge strategy is considered by continuously illuminating a test mass (TM) with weak light in such a way to strike a balance between the charging…
The electrostatic charging of the LISA test masses due to exposure of the spacecraft to energetic particles in the space environment has implications in the design and operation of the gravitational inertial sensors and can affect the…
Charges as small as 1 pC degrade the performance of high precision inertial reference instruments when accumulated on their test masses (TMs). Non-contact charge management systems are required for the most sensitive of these instruments,…
Context. The LISA space observatory will explore the sub-Hz spectrum of gravitational wave emission from the Universe. The space environment, where will be immersed in, is responsible for charge accumulation on its free falling test masses…