"Galileo galilei" (GG) a small satellite to test the equivalence principle of galileo, newton and einstein

authored by
Anna M. Nobili, Gian Luca Comandi, Suresh Doravari, Donato Bramanti, Rajeev Kumar, Francesco Maccarrone, Erseo Polacco, Slava G. Turyshev, Michael Shao, John Lipa, Hansjoerg Dittus, Claus Laemmerzhal, Achim Peters, Jurgen Mueller, C. S. Unnikrishnan, Ian W. Roxburgh, Alain Brillet, Christian Marchal, Jun Luo, Jozef van derHa, Vadim van derMilyukov, Valerio van derIafolla, David van derLucchesi, Paolo van derTortora, Paolo DeBernardis, Federico DePalmonari, Sergio DeFocardi, Dino DeZanello, Salvatore Monaco, Giovanni DeMengali, Luciano DeAnselmo, Lorenzo DeIorio, Zoran DeKnezevic
Abstract

"Galileo Galilei" (GG) is a small satellite designed to fly in low Earth orbit with the goal of testing the Equivalence Principle-which is at the basis of the General Theory of Relativity-to 1 part in 1017. If successful, it would improve current laboratory results by 4 orders of magnitude. A confirmation would strongly constrain theories; proof of violation is believed to lead to a scientific revolution. The experiment design allows it to be carried out at ambient temperature inside a small 1-axis stabilized satellite (250 kg total mass). GG is under investigation at Phase A-2 level by ASI (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana) at Thales Alenia Space in Torino, while a laboratory prototype (known as GGG) is operational at INFN laboratories in Pisa, supported by INFN (Istituto Nazionale di fisica Nucleare) and ASI. A final study report will be published in 2009.

External Organisation(s)
University of Pisa
Sezione di Pisa
University of Bologna
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Stanford University
University of Bremen
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU Berlin)
Technical University of Munich (TUM)
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR HYD)
Queen Mary University of London
Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur (OCA)
Office national d'études et de recherches aérospatiales (ONERA)
Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Kyushu University
Lomonosov Moscow State University
Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF)
Sapienza Università di Roma
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN)
National Research Council Italy (CNR)
Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade (AOB)
Type
Article
Journal
Experimental astronomy
Volume
23
Pages
689-710
No. of pages
22
ISSN
0922-6435
Publication date
01.07.2009
Publication status
Published
Peer reviewed
Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Astronomy and Astrophysics, Space and Planetary Science
Electronic version(s)
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10686-008-9128-3 (Access: Open)
 

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