LISA Pathfinder Mission tests key technology to build space based observatory
Q. What does LISA linked LIGO stand for in the context of space based observatory for detecting gravitational waves?- Published on 09 Jun 16a. Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory
b. Laser Interference Gravity Waves Observatory
c. Light Interferometer Gravitation Waves Observatory
d. Light Interference Gravitation Wave Observatory
ANSWER: Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory
LISA Pathfinder Mission has tested a key technology to build space based observatory for detecting of gravitational waves
- Mission was led by ESA scientists with the contribution of NASA
- Research was published in Physical Review Letters on June 7, 2016
- Mission demonstrated that two test masses can be put in free fall with relative acceleration free of noise to meet requirements for space based gravitation wave detection
- These tiny ripples in the fabric of space were first seen in 2015 by ground based LIGO
- These ripples were predicted by Albert Einstein a hundred years ago
- The frequency of thermal, seismic and other noise sources limit LIGO to higher frequency gravitational waves around 100 cycles per second (hertz)
- Finding signals from mergers of supermassive black holes in colliding galaxies requires the ability to see frequencies at 1 hertz or less
- Space based observatory works through tracking of test masses that only movie under the influence of gravity
