Earth Gravity from Space: missions and technologies

Gravity, being the weakest among the four fundamental interactions of physics, shapes the massive macroscopic universe. Remarkably, it cannot be neutralized, but only actively counteracted. Gravitation theory marked and guided the evolution of modern physics from Galileo and Newton up to Einstein, and still puzzles quantum physics. Coming to the Earth, gravity constrains and drives geophysics and climate. An accurate and uniform ‘picture’ of the Earth gravity can only be obtained from space, which is the goal that the European mission GOCE (Gravity field and steady state Ocean CirculationExploration) is accomplishing with success. The workshop “Earth Gravity from Space: Missions and Technologies’ aims to illustrate past and future scientific expectations and the relevant technology needs to teachers, researchers and students of engineering and physics. The workshop is organized by Politecnico di Torino, under the patronage of the European Space Agency, of Thales Alenia Space Italia, of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and of the National Metrology Institute (INRiM). Talks are given by distinguished scientists and engineers from Europe and China.