Keywords:Laser Astrometric Test Of Relativity (LATOR); optical communication; geometric redundancy; laser ranging; long-baseline optical interferometry.
Publisher:Pasadena, CA : Jet Propulsion Laboratory, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2004.
Citation:2004 NASA/JPL Workshop on Physics for Planetary Exploration, Solvang, California, April 20-24, 2004.
Abstract:
This paper discusses experimental design for the Laser Astrometric Test Of Relativity (LATOR) mission. LATOR is designed to reach unprecedented accuracy of 1 part in 108 in measuring the curvature of the solar gravitational field as given by the value of the key Eddington post-Newtonian parameter γ. This mission will demonstrate the accuracy needed to measure effects of the next post- Newtonian order (∝ G2) of light deflection resulting from gravity’s intrinsic non-linearity.
