MICROSCOPE

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10-day predictions

NORAD ID: 41457

Int'l Code: 2016-025B

Perigee: 718.7 km

Apogee: 720.6 km

Inclination: 98.2 °

Period: 99.0 minutes

Semi major axis: 7090 km

RCS: Unknown

Launch date: April 26, 2016
Source: France (FR)
Launch site: FRENCH GUIANA (FRGUI)

MICROSCOPE (Micro-Satellite à traînée Compensée pour l’Observation du Principe d’Equivalence) is a satellite that will test the equivalence principle described by Albert Einstein, with a precision on the order of 10-15. In space, it is possible to study the relative motion of two bodies in almost perfect and permanent free fall aboard an orbiting satellite, shielded from perturbations encountered on Earth (notably seismic), over the course of several months. To achieve this, two concentric cylindrical test masses made of different materials – one titanium and one a platinum-rhodium alloy – will be minutely controlled to keep them motionless with respect to the satellite inside independent differential electrostatic accelerometers. If the equivalence principle is verified, the two masses will be subjected to the same control acceleration. If different accelerations have to be applied, the principle will be violated: an event that would shake the foundations of physics.