STEP (Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle)
E287396
STEP (Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle) is a proposed space mission designed to test Einstein’s equivalence principle with extremely high precision by comparing the free fall of different materials in orbit.
All labels observed (3)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| MICROSCOPE equivalence principle experiment | 1 |
| STEP (Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle) canonical | 1 |
| Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T2682843 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: STEP (Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle) Context triple: [MICROSCOPE, relatedMission, STEP (Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle)]
-
A.
Gravity Probe B experiment
Gravity Probe B experiment was a NASA-led satellite mission designed to precisely measure how Earth's gravity warps space and time, providing a high-accuracy test of key predictions of Einstein's general relativity.
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B.
MICROSCOPE satellite mission
The MICROSCOPE satellite mission was a French-led space experiment designed to test the validity of Einstein’s equivalence principle with unprecedented precision by comparing the free fall of different materials in orbit.
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C.
International Microgravity Laboratory 2
International Microgravity Laboratory 2 was a Space Shuttle-based Spacelab mission dedicated to conducting a wide range of microgravity science experiments in low Earth orbit.
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D.
BepiColombo mission
The BepiColombo mission is a joint ESA–JAXA spacecraft mission designed to study the planet Mercury’s composition, magnetic field, and environment through dual orbiters.
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E.
GRACE mission
The GRACE mission is a joint NASA–German Aerospace Center satellite project that precisely measures Earth's gravity field over time to study changes in ice sheets, sea level, groundwater, and other aspects of the global water cycle.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: STEP (Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle) Target entity description: STEP (Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle) is a proposed space mission designed to test Einstein’s equivalence principle with extremely high precision by comparing the free fall of different materials in orbit.
-
A.
Gravity Probe B experiment
Gravity Probe B experiment was a NASA-led satellite mission designed to precisely measure how Earth's gravity warps space and time, providing a high-accuracy test of key predictions of Einstein's general relativity.
-
B.
MICROSCOPE satellite mission
The MICROSCOPE satellite mission was a French-led space experiment designed to test the validity of Einstein’s equivalence principle with unprecedented precision by comparing the free fall of different materials in orbit.
-
C.
International Microgravity Laboratory 2
International Microgravity Laboratory 2 was a Space Shuttle-based Spacelab mission dedicated to conducting a wide range of microgravity science experiments in low Earth orbit.
-
D.
BepiColombo mission
The BepiColombo mission is a joint ESA–JAXA spacecraft mission designed to study the planet Mercury’s composition, magnetic field, and environment through dual orbiters.
-
E.
GRACE mission
The GRACE mission is a joint NASA–German Aerospace Center satellite project that precisely measures Earth's gravity field over time to study changes in ice sheets, sea level, groundwater, and other aspects of the global water cycle.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (38)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
equivalence principle test
ⓘ
physics experiment ⓘ proposed space mission ⓘ |
| acronym | STEP ⓘ |
| aimsFor | extremely high precision in testing the equivalence principle ⓘ |
| benefitOfSpaceEnvironment |
long free-fall times
ⓘ
reduced environmental disturbances compared to ground experiments ⓘ |
| compares | free fall of different test materials ⓘ |
| domain |
experimental gravitation
ⓘ
fundamental physics ⓘ space science ⓘ |
| environment |
Earth orbit
ⓘ
space-based experiment ⓘ |
| fullName |
STEP (Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle)
self-linksurface differs
ⓘ
surface form:
Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle
|
| keyFeature |
cryogenic instrumentation
ⓘ
drag-free control system ⓘ high-precision accelerometers ⓘ |
| measurementMethod |
comparison of free fall of different materials in a drag-free satellite
ⓘ
differential acceleration measurement between test masses ⓘ |
| missionType |
fundamental physics mission
ⓘ
space-based precision experiment ⓘ |
| operatesIn | microgravity environment ⓘ |
| potentialOutcome |
guidance for theories unifying gravity with quantum mechanics
ⓘ
improved understanding of gravitational interaction ⓘ tighter constraints on violations of the equivalence principle ⓘ |
| primaryObjective | test Einstein’s equivalence principle ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
search for new physics beyond general relativity
ⓘ
tests of the universality of free fall ⓘ |
| scientificGoal |
compare the free fall of different materials in orbit
ⓘ
probe foundations of general relativity ⓘ search for possible violations of the equivalence principle ⓘ |
| status | proposed ⓘ |
| testsAspectOfGravity |
composition independence of gravitational acceleration
ⓘ
universality of free fall ⓘ |
| testsPrinciple |
equivalence principle
ⓘ
surface form:
Einstein equivalence principle
weak equivalence principle ⓘ |
| theoreticalFramework | general relativity ⓘ |
| usesPlatform | artificial satellite ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: STEP (Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle) Description of subject: STEP (Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle) is a proposed space mission designed to test Einstein’s equivalence principle with extremely high precision by comparing the free fall of different materials in orbit.
Referenced by (3)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
MICROSCOPE satellite mission
→
relatedMission
→
STEP (Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle)
ⓘ
subject surface form:
MICROSCOPE
this entity surface form:
MICROSCOPE equivalence principle experiment
STEP (Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle)
→
fullName
→
STEP (Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle)
self-linksurface differs
ⓘ
this entity surface form:
Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle