On the impossibility of using the longitude of the ascending node of GP-B for measuring the Lense-Thirring effect

TL;DR

This paper argues that measuring the Lense-Thirring effect using the GP-B satellite's node is unfeasible due to dominant tidal perturbations overshadowing the relativistic signal within the mission duration.

Contribution

It demonstrates the impracticality of using GP-B's node to detect the Lense-Thirring effect because of overwhelming tidal effects that cannot be averaged out in the mission timeframe.

Findings

Lense-Thirring shift on GP-B node is 164 mas over one year.

Tidal perturbations have amplitudes around 10^5 mas and periods of about 1000 years.

Tidal effects dominate the relativistic signal, making measurement unfeasible.

Abstract

The possibility of analyzing the node Omega of the GP-B satellite in order to measure also the Lense-Thirring effect on its orbit is examined. This feature is induced by the general relativistic gravitomagnetic component of the Earth gravitational field. The GP-B mission has been launched in April 2004 and is aimed mainly to the measurement of the gravitomagnetic precession of four gyroscopes carried onboard at a claimed accuracy of 1% or better. The aliasing effect of the solid Earth and ocean components of the solar K_1 tidal perturbations would make the measurement of the Lense-Thirring effect on the orbit unfeasible. Indeed, the science period of the GP-B mission amounts to almost one year. During this time span the Lense-Thirring shift on the GP-B node would be 164 milliarcseconds (mas), while the tidal perturbations on its node would have a period of the order of 10^3 years and amplitudes of the order of 10^5 mas.