Yes, We Can Take the Gravitational Wave Hunt to Space

An illustration of the LISA Pathfinder in space. (Credit: ESA)  Scientists at the European Space Agency have successfully engineered the quietest environment in the known universe, paving the way for deep-space gravitational wave detectors. In December 2015, the 22-nation ESA launched the LISA Pathfinder spacecraft to determine if it's possible for two gold-platinum cubes to remain perfectly still, relative to each other, as they orbited the sun. That meant shielding the cubes from all disturbances — even forces as minuscule as the gravitational pull of a mosquito — to ensure only a passing gravitational wave, and not an errant gas molecule, could squeeze the masses closer together.  In a paper published Tuesday in Physical Review Letters, ESA scientists announced that LISA Pathfinder not only proved the technology, it exceeded expectations. The test masses are falling freely through space, disturbed only by the forces of gravity, to a precision five times better than expected. Though LISA Pathfinder isn't designed to detect gravitational waves, it proved that scientists cando it from space. “Now, we are fully ready to jump,” said ESA’s Fabio Favata during a press conference Tuesday at the European Space Astronomy Centre in Madrid, Spain. “We have not only learned to walk, but to actually to jog pretty well. We are now ready for the big marathon.”