Abstract
During the on-station thermal test campaign of the LISA Pathfinder, the diagnostics subsystem was tested in nearly space conditions for the first time after integration in the satellite. The results showed the compliance of the temperature measurement system, obtaining temperature noise around 10-4 K Hz-1/2 in the frequency band 1-30 MHz. In addition, controlled injection of heat signals to the suspension struts anchoring the LISA Technology Package (LTP) core assembly to the satellite structure allowed us to experimentally estimate, for the first time, the phase noise contribution through thermo-elastic distortion of the LTP interferometer, the satellite's main instrument. Such contribution was found to be at 10-12 MHz-1/2, a factor of 30 below the measured noise at the lower end of the measurement bandwidth (1 MHz).
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 045014 |
Journal | Classical and Quantum Gravity |
Volume | 32 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 19 2015 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Gravitational waves
- LISA Pathfinder
- Laser interferometer
- Low frequency
- Temperature noise
- Thermal diagnostics
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)