NASA gravity probe confirms Einstein’s theories

Scientists from the NASA Gravity Probe B mission have announced that they have confirmed two of the primary predictions made using Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity.

Among them, the principal investigator from Stanford University in California, Francis Everitt, told the press that “We’ve completed this landmark experiment testing Einstein’s universe, and Einstein survives”.

The Gravity Probe B was launched in 2004, and the mission used four gyroscopes (orientation measuring devices) that are capable of providing exceptional precision.  These gyroscopes were installed into a satellite that was designed to examine two predictions regarding gravity from the theory of relativity.

These two predictions were the geodetic effect (the altering of space and time around a gravitational body such as a star or a planet) and frame dragging (the ability of a rotating object to draw the fabric and space and time along with it).

Everitt gave the example “Imagine the Earth is immersed in honey, and you can imagine the honey would be dragged around and [an object in the honey] would also be dragged around,” this was what was measured using the satellite’s gyroscopes.

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Posted by Louise Wellington on May 6 2011. Filed under Science. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.