Emerging Victorious: The LISA Pathfinder
The LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) Pathfinder is a research spacecraft of the European Space Agency (ESA) and was launched in December 2015. The main purpose of the LISA Pathfinder mission is to test certain technologies for future space observatories to detect gravitational waves from large astronomical bodies (e.g. stars) around us.
The LISA Pathfinder uses extremely sophisticated technology to observe the "path" taken by two cubes located in the heart of the spacecraft when subjected to pure gravitational free-fall. It is also ensured that the cubes act under the influence of gravity alone and hence, the LISA Pathfinder shields these two cubes from external disturbances like solar wind and/or pressure. Therefore, you have two cubes in pure gravitational free-fall insid...