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LISA
Author(s) -
DANZMANN KARSTEN
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1995.tb17590.x
Subject(s) - spacecraft , physics , interferometry , michelson interferometer , laser , retroreflector , optics , astronomy , aerospace engineering , engineering
Abstract LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) is designed to observe gravitational waves from violent events in the Universe in a frequency range from 10 −4 to 10 −1 Hz which is totally inaccessible to ground based experiments. It uses highly stabilised laser light (Nd:YAG, λ= 1.064 μm) in a Michelson‐type interferometer arrangement. A cluster of six spacecraft with two at each vertex of an equilateral triangle is placed in an Earth‐like orbit at a distance of 1 AU from the Sun, and 20° behind the Earth. Three subsets of four adjacent spacecraft each form an interferometer comprising a central station, consisting of two relatively adjacent spacecraft (200 km apart), and two spacecraft placed at a distance of 5x10 6 km from the centre to form arms which make an angle of 60° with each other. Each spacecraft is equipped with a laser. A descoped LISA with only four spacecraft has undergone an ESA assessment study in the M3 cycle, and the full 6‐spacecraft LISA mission has now been selected as a cornerstone in the ESA Horizon 2000‐plus programme.