Theory of Relativity to be tested

[Swift Terror 0]

And you thought it was hard, established fact...

 

The theory remains unverified and now, after 88 years, it is being tested in space, thanks to NASA, Stanford U. (brain power), Boeing (launch rockets), and Lockheed Martin (spacecraft, scientific apparatus).

 

This experiment will test two predictions in Einstein's General Theory of Relativity:

 

1. The geodetic effect, which is the amount that Earth warps the space-time around it.

 

2. The frame-dragging effect, which is the amount that Earth drags space-time with it as it rotates.

 

 

The launch took place 20 Apr 2004.

 

NASA is preparing to put Albert Einstein's Theory of General Relativity to the test. The Gravity Probe B (GP-B) spacecraft will use four ultra-precise gyroscopes to determine whether space and time are distorted by the presence of massive objects.

 

At Stanford University, ideas for Gravity Probe B began to take shape in 1960. A physics-engineering team was formed, led since 1962 by Francis Everitt, now GP-B principal investigator. So began a long process of design, analysis, and exploratory research funded by NASA and supported technically by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The GP-B spacecraft was designed, integrated and tested by Lockheed Martin.

 

------------------------------------------

 

GP-B is among the most thoroughly researched programs ever undertaken by NASA. GP-B will measure two parts of Einstein's general theory of relativity by assessing how the presence of Earth warps space and time, and how Earth's rotation drags space and time.

 

"The geodetic effect" describes how the presence of Earth changes space and time. Visually, it is similar to holding a bedsheet by four corners and placing a basketball in the center. The bedsheet will slightly wrap around the ball, somewhat similar to the way Earth warps space and time.

 

The experiment uses three key components: a spinning sphere, a telescope and a star. Building GP-B required fundamental breakthroughs in a variety of technologies to ensure this experiment could be performed.

 

At the heart of the experiment are four gyroscopes, instruments for studying the Earth's rotation by means of a freely suspended flywheel. The gyroscopes for Gravity Probe B are not flywheels but electrically supported spheres, spinning in a vacuum.

 

The center of the gyroscope is a jewel-like sphere of fused quartz. These spheres, the size of Ping-Pong balls, are the roundest objects ever made by man. The tiny spheres are enclosed inside a housing chamber to prevent disruption from sound waves, and chilled to almost absolute zero to prevent their molecular structure from creating a disturbance. The accuracy of these gyroscopes is 30 million times greater than any gyroscope ever built.

 

If Einstein's predictions were right, the gyroscopes should detect that small amounts of time and space are missing from each orbit. To measure each orbit, the gyroscopes are aligned with a guide star using a tracking telescope. A magnetic-field measuring device records the changes in respect to the guide star.

 

Using cutting-edge technology, the GP-B mission will provide researchers with a better understanding of the underlying structure of the universe and a clearer picture of how our physical world relates to the theory of gravity.

 

 

 

 

http://www.nasa.gov/missions/highlights/la...update_gpb.html

 

http://www.nasa.gov/missions/deepspace/grav_b.html

 

http://einstein.stanford.edu/

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

This thread needs a good hunger4unger post or a Mikey Moore fat joke...

[Slayer 0]

BOY THAT MICHAEL MOORE FELLA SURE IS FAT...

 

How's that?

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Too subtle...

[KingPK 0]

NASA scientists stated that adjustments may have to be made to the results before they are released to the public. Said one scientist: "We must take into account certain factors that may skew the data, most notably how the gravitational pull of Michael Moore effects the drag of space and time, since there is a LOT of drag there."

[Swift Terror 0]

But the real question is: who is actually fatter, Michael Moore......or Ted Kennedy?

 

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Giving up on your thread already, eh Mr. Terror?

 

I don't know the answer to your question, but I wish Uncle Ted would drive Mikey across a few bridges in the Northeast...

[Swift Terror 0]

Yep, I'm giving up...unless the scientifically minded SideFXs cares to "weigh" in....on the "gravity" probe...oh hell, there's too much fat joke tie-ins here.

[Vyce 0]

But the real question is: who is actually fatter, Michael Moore......or Ted Kennedy?

 

"What's that, Dad?"

"Why, son, that's Venus. But what it's doing so close to the ground...."

 

Jesus Christ - it's an old hack joke, but I'll use it: if the camera adds 10 pounds, then exactly how many fucking cameras are on the two of them?!?!?!

[Guest SideFXs]

Yep, I'm giving up...unless the scientifically minded SideFXs cares to "weigh" in....on the "gravity" probe...oh hell, there's too much fat joke tie-ins here.

Well the extremely sensitive gyroscopes the scientists used, in Gravity Probe B, are golf ball sized, perfectly formed, fused quartz spheres. These spheres are encased in stainless steel to prevent any disturbance from sound vibrations, inside the satellite.

 

I wonder if Michael Moore has any perfectly formed balls of steel? I doubt he even developed during puberty.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

QUOTE(hunger4unger @ never)

So what if terrorists cut off some guys head? Look at all the innocents we killed when American troops were shooting at a mosque.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, yeah. Down with terrorists. Up with freedom!

[Jobber of the Week 0]

Is that the MGM Grand behind Mikey there?

 

 

I wonder if the guy at the front desk told him "Sir, we can fit you into a suite" and he thought nothing of it.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Finally relenting to the Mikey fat jokes, eh Jobber?

 

All we need to do now is get you to buy Savage's latest book and the Conservative Brigade will have its newest recruit...

[Jobber of the Week 0]

No, I was just thinking to myself, "Where would he go on vacation, anyway?" and then it hit me:

 

 

 

 

And of course, he'd want to stay at the hotel with the theme that best symbolizes his beliefs:

 

 

 

 

(BTW, I've stayed at the Paris hotel in Vegas, and it was quite nice, clean, and it's owned by a US company. There's no liberal propaganda spread around, although last week John Kerry spoke at the sister property Bally's next door [i guess it would have looked a little blatant if he spoke at Paris?])

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

I wonder if Rant ever stayed there?...

[Jobber of the Week 0]

I don't know, but I recently stayed at the hotel that looks like the New York skyline's most well-known buildings were told to scrunch close together and say "cheese." Just because I'm such a Patriot. Actually, it's because they gave me a free room.

 

Architecutally an interesting hotel (all those replicas of the Empire State Building, Chrysler, and others) are one giant building. We had a corner room in the Empire State Building.