Testing the Strong Equivalence Principle with Mars Ranging Data

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The year 1996 will mark the initiation of a number of new space missions to the planet Mars from which we expect to obtain a rich set of data, including spacecraft radio tracking data. Anticipating these events, we have analyzed the feasibility of testing a violation of the strong equivalence principle (SEP) with Earth-Mars ranging. Using analytic and numerical methods, we have demonstrated that ranging data can provide a useful estimate of the SEP parameter η. Two estimates of the predicted accuracy are quoted, one based on conventional covariance analysis, and the other based on ``modified worst case'' analysis, which assumes that systematic errors dominate the experiment. If future Mars missions provide ranging measurements with an accuracy of σ meters, after ten years of ranging the expected accuracy for the parameter η will be of order ση≈ (1-12)× 10⁻⁴σ. In addition, these ranging measurements will provide a significantly improved determination of the mass of the Jupiter system, independent of the test of the SEP polarization effect.