Gravitational-Wave Research Seminar

Series: Caltech/JPL Association for Gravitational-Wave Research Seminar Series

The GRACE Follow-On Laser Ranging Interferometer

Brent Ware, JPL,

The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites have successfully monitored the gravity profile of the Earth for over a decade.  Using microwave ranging, GRACE observes the Earth's environment via measurement of gravity changes due to shifting water masses - giving insight into global climate change over long time scales.  Now that GRACE is reaching the end of its lifetime, GRACE Follow-On (GFO) is being built to take its place.  GFO is a build-to-blueprint replacement of GRACE, with the addition of a nanometer-precision laser interferometer demonstration experiment.

In a partnership between NASA and Germany, the Laser Ranging Interferometer (LRI) on GRACE Follow-On is based on technology developed for gravitational wave detection by the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). The LRI implements one arm of the three arm LISA observatory. Between the ESA Pathfinder mission and GFO LRI, many of the elements of a picometer-sensitivity space-based gravitational wave detector will be demonstrated in space.

Event Sponsors:

Caltech-JPL Association for Gravitational Wave Research - More events from this Sponsor

For more information, please contact Jonah Kanner by email at [email protected] or visit CaJAGWR Home Page.