Speaker
Description
Several space missions employ free-falling test masses for high-precision measurements, ranging from gravitational-wave observatories to geophysical sensing. A critical step in such systems is the release of the test mass from the launch-lock mechanism after the spacecraft reaches orbit. Results from the LISA Pathfinder mission showed that the release process can be a high-risk operation, because the contacting fingers used to hold the test mass may give residual forces at the moment of separation.
To mitigate this issue, we investigate a quasi-static release scheme to minimize the impulse transferred to the test mass, as required for missions such as (B-)DECIGO. We performed a series of laboratory experiments to measure the residual forces under several experimental conditions relevant to quasi-static release.
In this presentation, we present the experimental setup and measurement method used to characterize the residual forces. We also report the measured residual forces obtained under different release conditions and discuss their effects for future space missions employing free-falling test masses.