A spacecraft designed to test Einstein's general theory of relativity is set to blast off today.According to the Gravity Probe B website, the satellite was successfully launched today.
NASA's Gravity Probe B will orbit the Earth's poles for about 16 months, looking for tiny distortions in the fabric of space caused by the mass of our planet.
This test of general relativity theory will be 100 times more sensitive than any previous efforts, says Sasha Buchman, science mission manager for the experiment at Stanford University, California.
The experiment was first proposed in 1959. It has cost US$700 million, and has been threatened with cancellation numerous times. The results are expected in 2006.
Wednesday, April 21, 2004
Gravity Probe B
I've mentioned Gravity Probe B before, but here is the latest from Nature --Gravity probe to test Einstein: Satellite will measure how the Earth warps space.:
