NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, recently completed tests on a second early version of a crucial component for the upcoming LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) mission. This mission, a joint effort between ESA (the European Space Agency) and NASA, aims to utilize infrared lasers to identify gravitational waves. Gravitational waves are essentially ripples in the fabric of space-time. The recent tests focused on the frequency reference system provided by BAE Systems, which will help in controlling the lasers connecting LISA’s three spacecraft. These lasers have to be finely tuned to enable precise measurements, accurate to within a picometer, which is a trillionth of a meter.
The team had previously tested the first version of the system back in May 2025. According to Ira Thorpe, the project scientist for LISA at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, the rounds of checkouts on the frequency reference system last year proved highly successful. This progress brings the LISA mission one step closer to its goal of detecting gravitational waves with high precision.
Original Source: NASA