7
Mar 11

How to keep LISA's laser on target five million kilometers away

category: Cosmology, ESA, Satellites, Probes and Telescopes Comments Off on How to keep LISA's laser on target five million kilometers away

Source: ESA

LISA will comprise three satellites, linked by lasers across five million km of
space, to track very slight spacetime distortion caused by gravitational waves.
Image credits: AEI/MildeMarketing/Exozet.

A key technical challenge of the joint ESA-NASA LISA mission has been solved: how to maintain precise pointing of a laser beam across five million km of space.(read more)

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7
Mar 11

Carbon fibre stretches from comet to machine tools

category: Comets, ESA, Satellites, Probes and Telescopes Comments Off on Carbon fibre stretches from comet to machine tools

Source: ESA

The Rosetta orbiter swoops over the lander soon after touchdown on the
Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.Image credits: Astrium - E. Viktor.

Ultra-light carbon-fibre rods used to stiffen a comet probe’s legs are now being harnessed by a German manufacturer to boost the precision and efficiency of their laser cutters.(read more)

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