Looking for wrinkles in spaceMOST people have heard of Hubble, an American space telescope that, besides doing a lot of science, also provides NASA’s public-relations department with an endless stream of pictures which show how beautiful the universe is. Hubble, however, is merely the best-known of a clutch of telescopes in orbit around Earth. These instruments all look at the cosmos in different ways, but they have one thing in common: their view is restricted to various parts of the electromagnetic spectrum (Hubble takes its pictures in and around the visible-light part of the spectrum). This is a fruitful way of looking at things, but it is not the only way. And on December 3rd, as The Economist went to press, the pioneer of another approach was scheduled to take off from French Guiana.
LISA Pathfinder (the acronym stands for Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) is intended to demonstrate the technology needed to detect waves of gravity, rather than light, X-rays or gamma rays. Gravitational waves are...Continue reading
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