| Abstract |
MicroSCOPE (Micro-Satellite à traînée Compensée pour l'Observation du Principe d'Equivalence) is an approved CNES/ESA gravity-research minisatellite mission, put forward by ONERA (Office National d'Etudes et de Recherches Aérospatiales), Châtillon, France, and by OCA (Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur) in Grasse, France.
The objective is to conduct a fundamental physics experiment, namely to test the general theory of relativity. This concept is also known as the EP (Equivalence Principle) test. The EP postulates a perfect proportionality between the inertial mass and the gravitational mass of a body. A direct consequence of this Equivalence Principle is the `universality of free fall' such that all objects fall with exactly the same acceleration in the same gravity field. EP turned out to be a major principle of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, formulated in 1907 and in 1911.
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