Title: MicroScope – a new era in measuring the equivalence principle

Abstract: MicroScope has just carried out the first space-borne test of the equivalence principle with unprecedented sensitivity.

The seeds for this experiment were first planted in the mid-1980s with ideas proposed to the European Space Agency for a cryogenic experiment to ‘drop’ masses in space (a version of Galileo’s experiment).  A version of the experiment was finally carried out by the French Agency CNES (with some help from ESA).  This talk will start with from the historical perspective, going on to describe the experiment and its results, and finally conclude with comments on the scientific relevance of the results and prospects for the future.