Post by SRON Space Research Organisation Netherlands

𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗔’𝘀 ‘𝗲𝘆𝗲𝘀’: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗣𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼-𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀 Our partner institute Nikhef (National Institute for Subatomic Physics) shared a behind-the-scenes look at the production of the first housings for the Quadrant Photo-Receivers Structural Models (QPRs) for European Space Agency - ESA future LISA mission. LISA will be the first European space mission to measure gravitational waves in space. The QPRs register the infrared laser beams exchanged between the three spacecraft. After travelling 2.5 million kilometres, only a few hundred picowatts of laser power remain. With picometre precision, the QPRs measure both distance and alignment, effectively forming LISA’s ‘eyes’. A QPR consists of a millimetre-sized Quadrant Photo-Diode (QPD), readout electronics and a rigid housing. The development of the QPD was carried out by Nikhef, SRON and BRIGHT integrated Photonics. Proud to collaborate within the Dutch LISA consortium! Einstein Telescope, Gabby Aitink-Kroes, Niels van Bakel, Patrick Seignette, Martijn van Overbeek , Marco Kraan #LISA #GravitationalWaves #SpaceInstrumentation #PrecisionEngineering #ESA #sronspace

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