BBC News 1 March 2016.  Jonathon Amos

The formal test programme has begun on the technologies required to detect gravitational waves in space.

Europe's Lisa Pathfinder (LPF) probe is engaging in a series of experiments roughly 1.5 million km from Earth.

The project has heightened interest, of course, because of the first sampling of the "cosmic ripples" made by ground-based detectors last September

A successful demo for LPF would pave the way for a fully operational orbiting observatory in the 2030s.

This would likely be known simply as Lisa - the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna.

Read full story on BBC News website