Proof Mass Accelerations Due to Temperature Fluctuations

The sources of spurious accelerations of the proof masses in the LISA spacecraft at frequencies below 0.1 millihertz are reviewed from the viewpoint of investigating what improvements could be achieved for quite small increases in the hardware requirements. A significant contributor is temperature fluctuations in the spacecraft, despite LISA’s very favorable thermal environment. The information that is currently available on such effects is reviewed briefly, and the reasons for considering a modest level of active temperature control at very low frequencies are discussed.