The ESA STE-QUEST Mission Study - Space Mission Design to Test Einstein's Equivalence Principle
| Autor: | Eric Wille, Martin Gehler, Luigi Cacciapuoti, Pierre Waller, Robin Biesbroek, Astrid Heske |
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| Rok vydání: | 2013 |
| Předmět: |
Physics
Cosmic Vision Spacecraft business.industry Local oscillator Astrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics Lorentz covariance Theoretical physics symbols.namesake symbols Ground segment Aerospace engineering Einstein business Equivalence (measure theory) Free-space optical communication |
| Zdroj: | AIAA SPACE 2013 Conference and Exposition. |
| DOI: | 10.2514/6.2013-5464 |
| Popis: | STE-QUEST, the Space-Time Explorer and Quantum Equivalence Space Test mission, is one of the candidates for a medium-class (470 MEUR) launch slot in 2022/2024 within the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 program of the European Space Agency. The STE-QUEST missions aims to test the three cornerstones of Einstein’s Equivalence Principle: local Lorentz invariance, local position invariance, and the weak equivalence principle. A suite of novel payload instruments, consisting of an updated cold-atom Cesium microwave clock with an optical local oscillator, a dual-species Rubidium atom interferometer, as well as specic time-and-frequency transfer links based on microwave and laser communication shall enable these measurements. In this paper, we give an introduction into the measurement concept and the principles of the instruments before addressing the design of the spacecraft and supporting ground segment for the mission. The evolution of the design solution during the study is presented. We address the system engineering processes applied, also in light of the recent changes in the selection process for new medium class missions, as well as the challenges of designing a space mission for novel instruments for fundamental physics tests. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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