Einstein Special: The Lisa Mission Short Version

Einstein Special: the LISA Mission ESA TV Exchanges On 18 April 2005, the world commemorates the 50th anniversary of the death of Albert Einstein. ESA is preparing, as part of its cosmic vision programme, the ambitious LISA mission to detect gravitational waves. The LISA mission consists of three satellites, launched to a located 1 Mio km from Earth, forming a triangle of 5 Mio km across. By detecting minute distance fluctuations, as little as the diameter of an atom or less, between proof masses inside the three satellites, gravitational waves for example from supernovae explosions should be seen for the first time ever: this would be a direct proof that the gravitational force originates from a field, which is a main feature of Einsteins's general theory of relativity. Today's Exchange includes location recordings from the MPI fur Gravitationsphysik/Albert Einstein Institute in Hanover/Germany, and from the University of Trento/Italy. There is also new 3-D graphics included courtesy of MPI fur Gravitationsphysik. The Programme is made of an A-roll (split audio, English and Italian) of six minutes plus a B-roll with clean international sound. More backgroud information can be found on: sci.esa.int/science-e/www/area/index.cfm?fareaid=27