Investigation of the in-flight anomalies of the LISA Pathfinder Test Mass release mechanism

Abstract

The LISA Pathfinder mission was flown to test some key technologies for the in-flight detection of gravitational waves. The mechanism developed to initialise the science phase, releasing the test mass into a geodesic trajectory, produced unexpected test mass states, requiring dedicated in-flight and on-ground test campaigns. Due to the limited information available from the telemetry, the analysis of the results required a combination of experimental and analytical approaches. A dynamic model of the release mechanism, integrated by an impact model, is developed to explain the in-flight test results. The proposed interpretation of the mechanism anomalies may provide useful guidelines for the design and development of the flight units for the forthcoming LISA mission.