Experimental results from the ST7 mission on LISA Pathfinder
G Anderson, J Anderson, M Anderson, G Aveni, D Bame, P Barela, K, Blackman, A Carmain, L Chen, M Cherng, S Clark, M Connally, W Connolly, D, Conroy, M Cooper, C Cutler, J D'Agostino, N Demmons, E Dorantes, C Dunn, M, Duran, E Ehrbar, J Evans, J Fernandez, G Franklin, M Girard

TL;DR
This paper reports on the experimental performance of the ST7-DRS system on LISA Pathfinder, demonstrating that the micropropulsion and control systems met predicted noise levels and maintained precise test mass positioning, supporting future gravitational wave observatory technology.
Contribution
It provides the first detailed experimental validation of the ST7-DRS micropropulsion and control systems in space, confirming their performance aligns with pre-flight models and requirements.
Findings
CMNT thrust noise matches pre-flight predictions
Test masses maintained RMS error below 2 nm
Differential acceleration noise below LISA requirements
Abstract
The Space Technology 7 Disturbance Reduction System (ST7-DRS) is a NASA technology demonstration payload that operated from January 2016 through July of 2017 on the European Space Agency's LISA Pathfinder spacecraft. The joint goal of the NASA and ESA missions was to validate key technologies for a future space-based gravitational wave observatory targeting the source-rich milliHertz band. The two primary components of ST7-DRS are a micropropulsion system based on colloidal micro-Newton thrusters (CMNTs) and a control system that simultaneously controls the attitude and position of the spacecraft and the two free-flying test masses (TMs). This paper presents our main experimental results and summarizes the overall the performance of the CMNTs and control laws. We find that the CMNT performance to be consistent with pre-flight predictions, with a measured system thrust noise on the order…
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