The gravitomagnetic influence on Earth-orbiting spacecrafts and on the lunar orbit

TL;DR

This paper discusses the theoretical distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic gravitomagnetic fields, and evaluates the current and future potential of lunar laser ranging to detect the extrinsic component.

Contribution

It clarifies the separation of gravitomagnetic effects into intrinsic and extrinsic parts and assesses the feasibility of detecting the extrinsic component with current LLR technology.

Findings

Intrinsic gravitomagnetic field detected by LAGEOS.

Current LLR cannot detect extrinsic effects at millimeter precision.

Future LLR improvements may enable detection of extrinsic gravitomagnetic effects.

Abstract

Gravitomagnetic field is covariantly split in the {\it intrinsic} and {\it extrinsic} parts, which are generated by rotational and translational currents of matter respectively. The {\it intrinsic} component has been recently discovered in the LAGEOS spacecraft experiment. We discuss the method of detection of the {\it extrinsic} tidal component with the lunar laser ranging (LLR) technique. Analysis of the gauge residual freedom in the relativistic theory of three-body problem demonstrates that LLR is currently not capable to detect the {\it extrinsic} gravitomagnetic effects which are at the ranging level of few millimeters. Its detection requires further advances in the LLR technique that are coming in the next 5-10 years.