MICROSCOPE Mission

First Results of a Space Test of the Equivalence Principle

Journal article (2017)

Authors

Pierre Touboul ONERA Centre de Palaiseau

Gilles Métris Laboratoire Lagrange

Bruno Christophe ONERA Centre de Palaiseau

Valerio Cipolla CNES Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales

Thibault Damour Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques

Pascale Danto CNES Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales

Hansjoerg Dittus Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR)

Pierre Fayet PSL Research University

Bernard Foulon ONERA Centre de Palaiseau

Claude Gageant ONERA Centre de Palaiseau

Pierre Yves Guidotti CNES Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales

Daniel Hagedorn Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt

Manuel Rodrigues ONERA Centre de Palaiseau

Emilie Hardy ONERA Centre de Palaiseau

Phuong Anh Huynh ONERA Centre de Palaiseau

Henri Inchauspe ONERA Centre de Palaiseau

Patrick Kayser ONERA Centre de Palaiseau

Stéphanie Lala ONERA Centre de Palaiseau

Claus Lämmerzahl University of Bremen

Vincent Lebat ONERA Centre de Palaiseau

Pierre Leseur ONERA Centre de Palaiseau

Françoise Liorzou ONERA Centre de Palaiseau

Meike List University of Bremen

Yves André CNES Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales

Frank Löffler Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt

Isabelle Panet IGN Institut Geographique National

Benjamin Pouilloux CNES Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales

Pascal Prieur CNES Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales

Alexandre Rebray ONERA Centre de Palaiseau

Serge Reynaud UPMC-Sorbonne Universités & CNRS

Benny Rievers University of Bremen

Alain Robert CNES Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales

Hanns Selig University of Bremen

Laura Serron Laboratoire Lagrange

Quentin Baghi Laboratoire Lagrange

Timothy Sumner Imperial College London

Nicolas Tanguy ONERA Centre de Palaiseau

P.N.A.M. Visser

Joël Bergé ONERA Centre de Palaiseau

Damien Boulanger ONERA Centre de Palaiseau

Stefanie Bremer University of Bremen

Patrice Carle ONERA Centre de Palaiseau

Ratana Chhun ONERA Centre de Palaiseau

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Published Date

04-12-2017

Language

English

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Abstract

According to the weak equivalence principle, all bodies should fall at the same rate in a gravitational field. The MICROSCOPE satellite, launched in April 2016, aims to test its validity at the 10-15 precision level, by measuring the force required to maintain two test masses (of titanium and platinum alloys) exactly in the same orbit. A nonvanishing result would correspond to a violation of the equivalence principle, or to the discovery of a new long-range force. Analysis of the first data gives δ(Ti,Pt)=[-1±9(stat)±9(syst)]×10-15 (1σ statistical uncertainty) for the titanium-platinum Eötvös parameter characterizing the relative difference in their free-fall accelerations.

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