Speaker
Description
The LPF mission has exceeded his goals showing the purity of the free-fall of a single TM as required for the LISA mission. The successful LPF mission has demonstrated that the LPF Gravitation Reference System (GRS) design is mature for LISA mission. However, a full re-build of the LPF GRS units is not compatible for LISA. Design modifications are necessary in order to comply with the specific LISA mission requirements, such as the longest mission duration, and to adapt the design to the LISA Instrument Architecture.
OHB Italia had a key role in the design, development, and verification of the GRS flown in LPF. For LISA the responsibility is further extended to the GRS mechanisms, its control electronics and the Power Conditioning Unit (PCU) of the GRS Front End Electronics (FEE).
The engineering experience inherited by OHB Italia for LPF is made available for LISA. Optimization of the GRS design is discussed in collaboration with the GRS team, the Agency and the LISA Industrial Prime.
OHBI Italia will take advantage of the LPF lessons learnt in several engineering activities. In particular to improve the GRS mechanisms design to release the TM in free fall with autonomous and reliable procedure. To optimize the integration and alignment procedures of the GRS Head equipment to comply to the LISA optical metrology budgets. To prove that GRS components and manufacturing process are compatible with LISA longer on ground storage and system integration as well as the in-flight lifetime. To characterize the GRS Head outgassing rates to ensure the required in-flight residual pressure around the TM. To measure the UV light discharge currents to verify the TM charge control performances. To compute and balance with the necessary accuracy the required GRS Head self-g static fields parameters (force, torque and stiffness). To screen the GRS Head components in order to verify the compliance to the LISA required magnetic field and gradient.
