Mission type | Laser ranging satellite Tests of general relativity[1][2] |
---|---|
Operator | Italian Space Agency (ASI) |
COSPAR ID | 2012-006A |
SATCAT no. | 38077 |
Website | http://www.lares-mission.com/ |
Mission duration | LARES 1: 11 years and 11 months (elapsed) LARES 2: 1 year, 5 months and 30 days (elasped) |
Spacecraft properties | |
Manufacturer | Carlo Gavazzi Space |
Launch mass | 386.8 kg |
Dimensions | 36.4 cm (diameter) |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 13 February 2012, 10:00:00 UTC 14 July 2022, 13:13:43 UTC |
Rocket | Vega VV01 Vega-C VV21 |
Launch site | Kourou, ELA-1 |
Contractor | Arianespace |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric orbit[3] |
Regime | Low Earth orbit |
Perigee altitude | 1437 km |
Apogee altitude | 1451 km |
Inclination | 69.49° |
Period | 114.75 minutes |
LARES (Laser Relativity Satellite) is a passive satellite system of the Italian Space Agency.[4]
YouTube Encyclopedic
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Arianespace - Vega C - LARES-2 - ZLV - Kourou/French Guiana - July 13, 2022
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Launch of Arianespace's Vega-C Rocket with LARES 2
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See LARES-2 satellite in orbit on Vega C rocket's upper stage (time-lapse)
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LIVE: Arianespace, ESA Launch LARES-2 | Vega-C Maiden Flight
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LARES-2 separation from Vega-C
Transcription
Mission
LARES 1
LARES 1 was launched into orbit on 13 February 2012 at 10:00:00 UTC. It was launched on the first Vega rocket from the ESA Centre Spatial Guyanais in Kourou, French Guiana.[5]
Composition
The satellite is made of THA-18N, a tungsten alloy,[6] and houses 92 cube-corner retroreflectors, which are used to track the satellite via laser from stations on Earth. LARES's body has a diameter of about 36.4 centimetres (14.3 in) and a mass of about 387 kilograms (853 lb).[1][7] LARES was inserted in a nearly circular orbit near 1,451 kilometres (902 mi) and an inclination of 69.49 degrees. The satellite is tracked by the International Laser Ranging Service stations.[8]
The LARES satellite is the densest object known orbiting the Earth.[1] The high density helps reduce disturbances from environmental factors such as solar radiation pressure.[citation needed]
Scientific goals
The main scientific target of the LARES mission is the measurement of the Lense–Thirring effect with an accuracy of about 1%, according to principal investigator Ignazio Ciufolini and the LARES scientific team,[9] but the reliability of that estimate is contested.[10]
In contrast, a recent analysis of 3.5 years of laser-ranging data reported a claimed accuracy of about 4%.[11] Critical remarks appeared later in the literature.[12][clarification needed]
Beyond the project's key mission, the LARES satellite may be used for other tests of general relativity as well as measurements in the fields of geodynamics and satellite geodesy.[13]
LARES 2
A second satellite, LARES 2, was launched into orbit on 13 July 2022 at 13:13:43 UTC on a Vega-C.[14] It was originally due to launch in mid-2021.[15][16] The launch was delayed to mid-2022 due to continuing impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic.[17][18]
LARES 2 may improve the accuracy of the frame-dragging effect measurement to 0.2%.[19] Concerns about the actual possibility of reaching this goal were raised.[20] LARES 2 is made of a nickel alloy instead of a tungsten alloy.[21]
See also
- LAGEOS similar satellites launched in 1976
- List of laser ranging satellites
- List of passive satellites
- PAGEOS
- Project Echo
- Vega flight VV01
References
- ^ a b c "The LAser RElativity Satellite". The LARES Team. Archived from the original on 31 December 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
- ^ "LARES". International Laser Ranging Service. Retrieved 28 February 2013. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Peat, Chris (29 July 2013). "LARES - Orbit". Heavens-Above. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
- ^ "LARES: Satellite per misure relativistiche" (in Italian). Agenzia Spaziale Italiana. Archived from the original on 15 October 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2009.
- ^
- ^ Proceedings of "9th YSESM "Youth Symposium on Experimental Solid Mechanics". Gruppo Italiano Frattura. p. 97. ISBN 9788895940304.
- ^ Peroni, I.; et al. (2007). "The Design of LARES: A satellite for testing General Relativity". Proceedings of the 58th International Astronautical Congress. IAC-07-B4.2.07.
- ^
- "International Laser Ranging Service". This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- "LARES page on the ILRS Site". This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^
- Ciufolini, I.; Paolozzi A.; Pavlis E. C.; Ries J. C.; Koenig R.; Matzner R. A.; Sindoni G. & Neumayer H. (2009). "Towards a One Percent Measurement of Frame Dragging by Spin with Satellite Laser Ranging to LAGEOS, LAGEOS 2 and LARES and GRACE Gravity Models". Space Science Reviews. 148 (1–4): 71–104. Bibcode:2009SSRv..148...71C. doi:10.1007/s11214-009-9585-7. S2CID 120442993.
- Ciufolini, I.; E. Pavlis; A. Paolozzi; J. Ries; R. Koenig; R. Matzner; G. Sindoni; H. Neumayer (2012). "Phenomenology of the Lense-Thirring effect in the solar system: Measurement of frame-dragging with laser ranged satellites". New Astronomy. 17 (3): 341–346. Bibcode:2012NewA...17..341C. doi:10.1016/j.newast.2011.08.003. hdl:11573/442872.
- Ciufolini, I.; Paolozzi A.; Pavlis E. C.; Ries J. C.; Koenig R.; Matzner R. A.; Sindoni G. & Neumayer H. (2010). "Gravitomagnetism and Its Measurement with Laser Ranging to the LAGEOS Satellites and GRACE Earth Gravity Models". <i>General Relativity and John Archibald Wheeler</i>. Astrophysics and Space Science Library. Vol. 367. SpringerLink. pp. 371–434. doi:10.1007/978-90-481-3735-0_17. ISBN 978-90-481-3734-3.
- Paolozzi, A.; Ciufolini I.; Vendittozzi C. (2011). "Engineering and scientific aspects of LARES satellite". Acta Astronautica. 69 (3–4): 127–134. Bibcode:2011AcAau..69..127P. doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2011.03.005. ISSN 0094-5765.
- Ciufolini, I.; Paolozzi A.; Pavlis E. C.; Ries J.; Koenig R.; Sindoni G.; Neumeyer H. (2011). "Testing Gravitational Physics with Satellite Laser Ranging". European Physical Journal Plus. 126 (8): 72. Bibcode:2011EPJP..126...72C. doi:10.1140/epjp/i2011-11072-2. S2CID 122205903.
- Ciufolini, I.; Pavlis E. C.; Paolozzi A.; Ries J.; Koenig R.; Matzner R.; Sindoni G.; Neumayer K.H. (3 August 2011). "Phenomenology of the Lense-Thirring effect in the Solar System: Measurement of frame-dragging with laser ranged satellites". New Astronomy. 17 (3): 341–346. Bibcode:2012NewA...17..341C. doi:10.1016/j.newast.2011.08.003. hdl:11573/442872.
- Ciufolini, I.; A. Paolozzi; C. Paris (2012). "Overview of the LARES mission: orbit, error analysis and technological aspects". Journal of Physics. Conference Series. 354 (1): 012002. Bibcode:2012JPhCS.354a2002C. doi:10.1088/1742-6596/354/1/012002.
- Ciufolini, I.; V. G. Gurzadyan; R. Penrose; A. Paolozzi (2012). "Geodesic motion in general relativity: LARES in Earth's gravity". Low Dimensional Physics and Gauge Principles. pp. 93–97. arXiv:1302.5163. doi:10.1142/9789814440349_0008. ISBN 978-981-4440-33-2. S2CID 119023319.
- ^ Iorio, L. (2009). "Towards a 1% measurement of the Lense-Thirring effect with LARES?". Advances in Space Research. 43 (7): 1148–1157. arXiv:0802.2031. Bibcode:2009AdSpR..43.1148I. doi:10.1016/j.asr.2008.10.016. S2CID 14946573.
- Iorio, L. (2009). "Will the recently approved LARES mission be able to measure the Lense–Thirring effect at 1%?". General Relativity and Gravitation. 41 (8): 1717–1724. arXiv:0803.3278. Bibcode:2009GReGr..41.1717I. doi:10.1007/s10714-008-0742-1. S2CID 6079748.
- Iorio, L. (2009). "An Assessment of the Systematic Uncertainty in Present and Future Tests of the Lense-Thirring Effect with Satellite Laser Ranging". Space Science Reviews. 148 (1–4): 363. arXiv:0809.1373. Bibcode:2009SSRv..148..363I. doi:10.1007/s11214-008-9478-1. S2CID 15698399.
- Lorenzo Iorio (2009). "Recent Attempts to Measure the General Relativistic Lense-Thirring Effect with Natural and Artificial Bodies in the Solar System". PoS ISFTG. 017: 17. arXiv:0905.0300. Bibcode:2009isft.confE..17I. doi:10.22323/1.081.0017. S2CID 15033615.
- Iorio, L. (2010). "On the impact of the atmospheric drag on the LARES mission" (PDF). Acta Physica Polonica B. 41 (4): 753–765. arXiv:0809.3564. Bibcode:2010AcPPB..41.4753I. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 March 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
- Iorio, L.; Lichtenegger, H.I.M.; Ruggiero, M.L.; Corda, C. (2011). "Phenomenology of the Lense-Thirring effect in the solar system". Astrophysics and Space Science. 331 (2): 351. arXiv:1009.3225. Bibcode:2011Ap&SS.331..351I. doi:10.1007/s10509-010-0489-5. S2CID 119206212.
- Renzetti, G. (2012). "Are higher degree even zonals really harmful for the LARES/LAGEOS frame-dragging experiment?". Canadian Journal of Physics. 90 (9): 883–888. Bibcode:2012CaJPh..90..883R. doi:10.1139/p2012-081.
- Renzetti, G. (October 2013). "First results from LARES: An analysis". New Astronomy. 23–24: 63–66. Bibcode:2013NewA...23...63R. doi:10.1016/j.newast.2013.03.001.
- Ciufolini, I.; A. Paolozzi; E. C. Pavlis; J. C. Ries; R. Koenig; R. A. Matzner; G. Sindoni; H. Neumayer (2009). "Towards a One Percent Measurement of Frame Dragging by Spin with Satellite Laser Ranging to LAGEOS, LAGEOS 2 and LARES and GRACE Gravity Models". Space Science Reviews. 148 (1–4): 71–104. Bibcode:2009SSRv..148...71C. doi:10.1007/s11214-009-9585-7. S2CID 120442993.
- Renzetti, G. (May 2015). "On Monte Carlo simulations of the LAser RElativity Satellite experiment". Acta Astronautica. 113: 164–168. Bibcode:2015AcAau.113..164R. doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2015.04.009.
- ^ Ciufolini, I.; A. Paolozzi; E. C. Pavlis; R. Koenig; J. Ries; V. Gurzadyan; R. Matzner; R. Penrose; G. Sindoni; C. Paris; H. Khachatryan; S. Mirzoyan (March 2016). "A test of general relativity using the LARES and LAGEOS satellites and a GRACE Earth gravity model. Measurement of Earth's dragging of inertial frames". The European Physical Journal C. 76 (3): 120. arXiv:1603.09674. Bibcode:2016EPJC...76..120C. doi:10.1140/epjc/s10052-016-3961-8. PMC 4946852. PMID 27471430.
- ^ Iorio, L. (February 2017). "A comment on " A test of general relativity using the LARES and LAGEOS satellites and a GRACE Earth gravity model. Measurement of Earth's dragging of inertial frames", by I. Ciufolini et al". The European Physical Journal C. 77 (2): 73. arXiv:1701.06474. Bibcode:2017EPJC...77...73I. doi:10.1140/epjc/s10052-017-4607-1. S2CID 118945777.
- ^ Paolozzi, A.; Ciufolini, I. (2013). "LARES successfully launched in orbit: Satellite and mission description". Acta Astronautica. 91: 313–321. arXiv:1305.6823. Bibcode:2013AcAau..91..313P. doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2013.05.011. S2CID 111380211.
- ^ European Space Agency, ed. (13 July 2022). "Vega-C successfully completes inaugural flight". www.esa.int. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
- ^ Henry, Caleb (14 September 2020). "Vega C debut slips to mid-2021". SpaceNews. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
- ^ "Launch Schedule – Spaceflight Now". 15 September 2020. Archived from the original on 15 September 2020. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
- ^ Kanayama, Lee (29 October 2021). "Ariane 6 undergoing preparations for its 2022 debut". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
- ^ "Launch Schedule – Spaceflight Now". Retrieved 22 November 2021.
- ^ A new laser-ranged satellite for General Relativity and space geodesy: I. An introduction to the LARES2 space experiment arXiv:1910.13818
- ^ Iorio, L. (2023). "Limitations in Testing the Lense–Thirring Effect with LAGEOS and the Newly Launched Geodetic Satellite LARES 2". Universe. 9 (5): 211. arXiv:2304.14649. Bibcode:2023Univ....9..211I. doi:10.3390/universe9050211.
- ^ "Mission Lares 2". Retrieved 13 July 2022.
External links
- LARES Mission: official Web Site of LARES Mission.
- LARES - Testing of General Relativity on ASI's page.
- LARES - Pronto al via! article with images of LARES on ASI's site (in Italian).
- LARES Satellite Information LARES page on the ILRS Web Site.