Recent Results from the LARES Mission on Testing General Relativity
- Paper number
IAC-16,A2,1,4,x35432
- Coauthor
Prof. Ignazio Ciufolini, Università del Salento, Centro Fermi, Italy
- Coauthor
Prof. Erricos C. Pavlis, NASA Goddard/University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), United States
- Coauthor
Prof. Antonio Paolozzi, University of Rome “La Sapienza” and Centro Fermi, Italy
- Coauthor
Dr. Rolf Koenig, Geoforschungszentrum Potsdam, Germany
- Coauthor
Dr. John Ries, The University of Texas at Austin, United States
- Coauthor
Prof. Vahe Gurzadyan, Alikhanian National Laboratory and Yerevan State University, Armenia
- Coauthor
Prof. Richard Matzner, The University of Texas at Austin, United States
- Coauthor
Dr. Giampiero Sindoni, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
- Coauthor
Dr. Claudio Paris, Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche Enrico Fermi, Italy
- Coauthor
Dr. Harutyun Khachatryan, Alikhanian National Laboratory and Yerevan State University, Armenia
- Coauthor
Dr. Sergey Mirzoyan, Alikhanian National Laboratory and Yerevan State University, Armenia
- Year
2016
- Abstract
The Italian Space Agency’s (ASI) LARES satellite was placed in orbit with a dedicated launch using the qualification flight of ESA’s VEGA (ESA-ASI-ELV-AVIO). After four years in orbit, preliminary analysis of the Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) data to LARES in combination with the SLR data from the LAGEOS 1 \& 2 missions show an improvement in the measurement of Earth’s frame-dragging. The frame-dragging phenomenon is predicted by General Relativity (GR) and it is induced by Earth’s rotation that twists the space-time fabric and drags inertial frames with it. The orbital plane of an object subjected only to a central force determines an inertial frame according to Galilei-Newton mechanics. In GR however, that plane is dragged by the rotation of the central mass. The dragging of the orbital plane is in the same direction of the rotation of the body. This motion, very small around Earth, may be dramatically large around supermassive rotating black holes. The LARES mission experiment aims at measuring this effect around Earth with an accuracy of about 1\%, thus improving the previous measurement obtained with the two LAGEOS satellites by one order of magnitude. The data are collected by the International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS) network, from ground stations that transmit ultra-short laser pulses towards the 400 kg satellite equipped with retroreflectors and measure the travel time of the reflected pulse’s arrival at the station. Using the data collected from the global ILRS network, one can determine LARES’ orbital position with an accuracy that can reach a few millimeters. The paper will present the mission objectives and the design characteristics of the LARES satellite and will report the recent results obtained with the analysis of the two LAGEOS and LARES satellites’ data using a recent gravitational field model for Earth, obtained from the dedicated GRACE and GOCE geopotential mapping missions.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-16,A2,1,4,x35432.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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