Gravity Probe B

[mmcirvin]

Gravity Probe B, an experiment to detect the dragging of inertial frames by the rotation of the Earth, has got to be the most-delayed space project in human history, unless you count stuff that only existed as illustrations in Collier's magazine. The experiment seems to have been first proposed as a viable possibility in 1959, and funding began in 1964. I remember reading about it when I was a little kid as an experiment planned for the 1980s when they finally got the Space Shuttle flying (they eventually abandoned the Shuttle as a launch vehicle). With luck, they will launch in December.