Time dilation

[mmcirvin]

Holy cats, are they actually going to launch Gravity Probe B?

This is, by some reckonings, the most-delayed scientific space mission in history. I remember seeing pictures of components of it back in the late 1970s, planned as a space shuttle payload for the 1980s. And it had already been in the works for some time by then.

It has to do with the effect of the rotation of the Earth on inertial frames, as detected by precise observation of gyroscopes made of, if I remember correctly, quartz spheres covered with a superconducting film. Which I'm sure will please bram, who has been thinking about inertial frames and rotating spheres a lot lately.

Comments

[bram.livejournal.com]

I've been in love with the Lense-Thirring effect ever since I noticed how much the cross product in the Coriolis effect reminded me of a magnetic field.

[dumplechan.livejournal.com]

But before they launch Gravity Probe B, they must RELEASE THE A3 DEER!