Laser interferometer space antenna simulator

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is a joint mission between NASA and ESA designed to use interferometry to detect gravitational waves. The three LISA spacecraft will be separated by 5 x 10(9) in or 16 s light travel time. This enormous baseline has a significant impact on the entire interferometry but is impossible to reproduce in the laboratory during system or subsystem tests. We have developed an electronic phase delay technique that enables us to simulate the long light travel time. In this paper we discuss how our phase-delay technique will be used to build a LISA simulator. For example, this simulator will be used to test time-delay interferometry, arm-locking, and data-handling methods.