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Register a new userMICROSCOPE mission analysis, requirements and expected performance
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The MICROSCOPE mission aimed to test the Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP) to a precision of $10^{-15}$. The WEP states that two bodies fall at the same rate on a gravitational field independently of their mass or composition. In MICROSCOPE, two masses of different compositions (titanium and platinum alloys) are placed on a quasi-circular trajectory around the Earth. They are the test-masses of a double accelerometer. The measurement of their accelerations is used to extract a potential WEP violation that would occur at a frequency defined by the motion and attitude of the satellite around the Earth. This paper details the major drivers of the mission leading to the specification of the major subsystems (satellite, ground segment, instrument, orbit...). Building upon the measurement equation, we derive the objective of the test in statistical and systematic error allocation and provide the missions expected error budget.
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After performing highly sensitive acceleration measurements during two years of drag-free flight around the Earth, MICROSCOPE provided the best constraint on the Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP) to date. Beside being a technological challenge, this experiment required a specialised data analysis pipeline to look for a potential small signal buried in the noise, possibly plagued by instrumental defects, missing data and glitches. This paper describes the frequency-domain iterative least-square technique that we developed for MICROSCOPE. In particular, using numerical simulations, we prove that our estimator is unbiased and provides correct error bars. This paper therefore justifies the robustness of the WEP measurements given by MICROSCOPE.
The analysis of physical measurements often copes with highly correlated noises and interruptions caused by outliers, saturation events or transmission losses. We assess the impact of missing data on the performance of linear regression analysis involving the fit of modeled or measured time series. We show that data gaps can significantly alter the precision of the regression parameter estimation in the presence of colored noise, due to the frequency leakage of the noise power. We present a regression method which cancels this effect and estimates the parameters of interest with a precision comparable to the complete data case, even if the noise power spectral density (PSD) is not known a priori. The method is based on an autoregressive (AR) fit of the noise, which allows us to build an approximate generalized least squares estimator approaching the minimal variance bound. The method, which can be applied to any similar data processing, is tested on simulated measurements of the MICROSCOPE space mission, whose goal is to test the Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP) with a precision of $10^{-15}$. In this particular context the signal of interest is the WEP violation signal expected to be found around a well defined frequency. We test our method with different gap patterns and noise of known PSD and find that the results agree with the mission requirements, decreasing the uncertainty by a factor 60 with respect to ordinary least squares methods. We show that it also provides a test of significance to assess the uncertainty of the measurement.
MICROSCOPEs space test of the weak equivalence principle (WEP) is based on the minute measurement of the difference of accelerations experienced by two test masses as they orbit the Earth. A detection of a violation of the WEP would appear at a well-known frequency $f_{rm EP}$ depending on the satellites orbital and spinning frequencies. Consequently, the experiment was optimised to miminise systematic errors at $f_{rm EP}$. Glitches are short-lived events visible in the test masses measured acceleration, most likely originating in cracks of the satellites coating. In this paper, we characterise their shape and time distribution. Although intrinsically random, their time of arrival distribution is modulated by the orbital and spinning periods. They have an impact on the WEP test that must be quantified. However, the data available prevents us from unequivocally tackling this task. We show that glitches affect the test of the WEP, up to an a priori unknown level. Discarding the perturbed data is thus the best way to reduce their effect.
AMIGO - The Astrodynamical Middle-frequency Interferometric GW (Gravitation-Wave) Observatory is a first-generation mid-frequency GW mission bridging the sensitivity gap between the high-frequency GW detectors and low-frequency space GW detectors. In our previous works, we have obtained appropriate heliocentric orbit formations of nominal arm length 10,000 km with their first-generation time-delay configurations satisfying frequency noise reduction requirement, and we have also worked out thrust-fuel friendly constant-arm heliocentric orbit formations. In this paper, we review and study noise requirements and present the corresponding GW sensitivities. From the design white position noises and acceleration noises, we obtain the GW sensitivities for the first-generation Michelson X TDI configuration of b-AMIGO (baseline AMIGO), AMIGO, and e-AMIGO (enhanced AMIGO). In view of the current technology development, we study and indicate steps to implement the AMIGO mission concept.
This paper focus on the description of the design and performance of the MICROSCOPE satellite and its Drag-Free and Attitude Control System (DFACS). The satellite is derived from CNES Myriade platform family, albeit with significant upgrades dictated by the unprecedented MICROSCOPEs mission requirements. The 300kg drag-free microsatellite has completed its 2-year flight with higher-than-expected performances. Its passive thermal concept allowed for variations smaller than 1 $mu$K at the measurement frequency $f_{rm{EP}}$. The propulsion system provided a 6 axis continuous and very low noise thrust from zero to some hundreds of micronewtons. Finally, the performance of its DFACS (aimed at compensating the disturbing forces and torques applied to the satellite) is the finest ever achieved in low Earth orbit, with residual accelerations along the three axes are lower than $10^{-12} {rm m/s}^2$ at $f_{rm{EP}}$ over 8 days.
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