Measuring Earth: Current status of the GRACE Follow-On Laser Ranging Interferometer

• Main Author: Schütze, Daniel
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Bristol : Institute of Physics Publishing 2016
• Subjects: Geodetic satellites; Gravitational effects; Gravity waves; Groundwater; Interferometers; NASA; Orbits; Flight hardware; Gravitational wave detectors; Ground water depletions; Hydrological system; Intersatellite distance; Low-orbit satellites; Gravitationswelle; Dewey Decimal Classification500 | Naturwissenschaften; Dewey Decimal Classification500 | Naturwissenschaften530 | Physik; Dewey; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.15488/708; http://www.repo.uni-hannover.de/handle/123456789/732

The GRACE mission that was launched in 2002 has impressively proven the feasibility of low-orbit satellite-to-satellite tracking for Earth gravity observations. Especially mass transport related to Earth's hydrological system could be well resolved both spatially and temporally. This allows to study processes such as polar ice sheet decline and ground water depletion in great detail. Owing to GRACE's success, NASA and GFZ will launch the successor mission GRACE Follow-On in 2017. In addition to the microwave ranging system, GRACE Follow-On will be the first mission to use a Laser Ranging Interferometer as technology demonstrator to track intersatellite distance changes with unprecedented precision. This new ranging device inherits some of the technologies which have been developed for the future spaceborne gravitational wave detector LISA. I will present the architecture of the Laser Ranging Interferometer, point out similarities and differences to LISA, and conclude with the current status of the flight hardware production.