Liquid helium motion and confinement for a cryogenic gravimetric mission Original Research Article

Within the Gravity Field and Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) mission of the European Space Agency, we are performing a detailed comparison between the expected performances of a superconducting gravity gradiometer to be operated at T ∼ 2K and an electrostatic one to be operated at room temperature. As part of this analysis we have evaluated the gravitational perturbation due to liquid helium motion for the cryogenic instrument and proposed a possible method of helium confinement based on the use of aerogel.