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Space test of the equivalence principle: first results of the MICROSCOPE mission

Bergé, Joel; Chhun, Ratana; Métris, Gilles +31 more

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 cur…