Tag: L1

  • LISA Pathfinder on station a million miles from Earth

    Artist’s concept of the LISA Pathfinder science module separation from the spacecraft’s propulsion section. Credit: ESA/C.Carreau Europe’s LISA Pathfinder mission crafted to demonstrate the ability to detect gravitational waves — theorized ubiquitous cosmic signals that have so far eluded discovery — has arrived at its operating post around the L1 Lagrange point nearly a million…

  • European probe blasts off on gravitational wave demonstration

    Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – S. Martin KOUROU, French Guiana — A solid-fueled Vega launcher fired through a low cloud deck and sped into orbit from the South American jungle early Thursday with a pioneering European spacecraft that marks a key step in a century-long quest to detect elusive gravitational waves predicted…