GUIDOTTI , Pierre-Yves

Testing the weak equivalence principle to a precision of 10$^{−15}$ requires a quantity of data that give enough confidence on the final result: ideally, the longer the measurement the better the rejection of the statistical noise. The science sessions had a duration of 120 orbits maximum and were regularly repeated and spaced out to...

This paper focuses on the description of the design and performance of the MICROSCOPE satellite and its drag-free and attitude control system. The satellite is derived from CNES' Myriade platform family, albeit with significant upgrades dictated by the unprecedented MICROSCOPE's mission requirements. The 300 kg drag-free microsatellite has...

After performing highly sensitive acceleration measurements during two years of drag-free flight around the Earth, MICROSCOPE provided the best constraint on the weak equivalence principle (WEP) to date. Beside being a technological challenge, this experiment required a specialised data analysis pipeline to look for a potential small signal...

Since the MICROSCOPE instrument aims to measure accelerations as low as a few 10$^{−15}$ m s$^{−2}$ and cannot operate on ground, it was necessary to have a large time dedicated to its characterization in flight. After its release and first operation, the characterization experiments covered all the aspects of the instrument design in order to...

The MICROSCOPE mission aims to test the weak equivalence principle (WEP) in orbit with an unprecedented precision of 10$^{−15}$ on the Eötvös parameter thanks to electrostatic accelerometers on board a drag-free micro-satellite. The precision of the test is determined by statistical errors, due to the environment and instrument noises, and by...

The MICROSCOPE mission aimed to test the weak equivalence principle (WEP) to a precision of 10$^{−15}$. The WEP states that two bodies fall at the same rate on a gravitational field independently of their mass or composition. In MICROSCOPE, two masses of different compositions (titanium and platinum alloys) are placed on a quasi-circular...

The Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP), stating that two bodies of different compositions and/or mass fall at the same rate in a gravitational field (universality of free fall), is at the very foundation of General Relativity. The MICROSCOPE mission aims to test its validity to a precision of $10^{-15}$, two orders of magnitude better than...

According to the weak equivalence principle, all bodies should fall at the same rate in a gravitational field. The MICROSCOPE satellite, launched in April 2016, aims to test its validity at the 10−15 precision level, by measuring the force required to maintain two test masses (of titanium and platinum alloys) exactly in the same orbit.A...

The space mission MICROSCOPE dedicated to the test of the equivalence principle (EP) operated from April 25, 2016 until the deactivation of the satellite on October 16, 2018. In this analysis we compare the free-fall accelerations (a$_{A}$ and a$_{B}$) of two test masses in terms of the Eötvös parameter . No EP violation has been detected for...

The MICROSCOPE mission was designed to test the weak equivalence principle (WEP), stating the equality between the inertial and the gravitational masses, with a precision of 10-15 in terms of the Eötvös ratio η. Its experimental test consisted of comparing the accelerations undergone by two collocated test masses of different compositions as...