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| 5/23 |
| 2004/4/2-5 [Science/Space] UID:12996 Activity:nil |
4/2 Yahoo! News - Satellite to Test Einstein PRedictions
http://csua.org/u/6ql
\_ uh, did you mean
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3596499.stm
\_ how dare they advance human knowledge? didn't they get that
memo? NASA's new mission is to do flashy stunts to get Bush
re-elected. sheesh; the nerve of some of these government
"scientists" is unblievable!
\_ which flashy stunts? you mean like the ones about going to
the moon and mars which won't happen until years after he's
reelected? idiot.
\_ I think he means the flashy stunts where Bush gets to
look like a visionary space explorer while ensuring that
we'll never be able to pay for said expeditions.
\_ if the mars and moon missions are financially impossible
and never happen, i don't really care. what pisses me
off is that they're killing good science at NASA left
and right to divert money into something that probably
won't happen.
\_ Which good science is being killed?
\_ I'm sorry I don't have specific grants I can
name off the top of my head, but I know of at
least one good astrophysical detector program that
was just killed because of this nonsense. people
in the NASA crowd that i know are pissed about it
and i trust them.
\_ dummy, of course they're pissed off that their
useless little pet projects got killed so we
could do some big science and actually maybe
go somewhere and get something done. You trust
NASA people? NASA is a totally fucked and
useless agency that should have been replaced
20 years ago. The NASA crowd? Pfah! Useless
ass covering paper pushers doing nice safe
dinky little garage science projects.
\_ Hubble, for example. However, it hasn't
happened yet and won't if Bush loses.
\_ hubble? instead of making noise about an
aged piece of crap which was broken on day 1,
you should be pushing for a replacement with
modern hardware that doesn't require 'glasses'
to see anything. the hubble has served very
well but it's dead jim, stick a fork in it.
it's time to stop looking at stuff and put some
real energy into *going* places.
\_ Wow. You moron, Hubble's life isn't being
shortened because of budget. It's because
of safety. The Hubble orbit doesn't leave
the shuttle with enough fuel to transition
to ISS orbit it there's damage to the
shuttle on lift-off. Until the safety issue
is fixed, there are no missions planned IIRC
that don't have a transitional orbit to the
ISS.
\_ BUCK FUSH!
\_ whoa! that's deep! im so voting for Nader now! |
| 5/23 |
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| csua.org/u/6ql -> story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040403/ap_on_sc/einstein_satellite Since 1959, Gravity Probe B has overcome a half-dozen attempts at cancellation, countless technical hurdles and several delayed launches. The NASA-funded, university-developed spacecraft is now scheduled to begin its mission following an April 17 liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The unmanned, Earth-orbiting satellite is designed to test two of Einsteins predictions about the nature of space and time, and how the Earth and other bodies warp and twist the fabric that combines the two. At the spacecrafts heart are four pingpong-sized balls of quartz, the most perfect spheres ever made. Once in space and set spinning, the orientation of the balls should change unless Einstein was wrong. He proposed in 1916 that space and time form a structure that can be curved by the presence of a body, like the Earth, warping it like the dimple created by the heft of bowling ball resting on a soft mattress. Two years later, others suggested that the rotation of such a mass should drag space-time with it, twisting the structure of the fabric. If theory holds, the mass and rotation of the Earth, 397 miles below the probe, should throw the alignment of the spinning balls off kilter in subtle but measurable ways. The twisting effect, called frame-dragging, has never been directly detected. |
| news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3596499.stm A satellite that will put Albert Einsteins Theory of Relativity to the test is ready to be launched. Nasa hopes Gravity Probe B will lift off from California on 17 April. Since it was first proposed in 1959, the project has been aborted and delayed because of technical hiccups many times. Now it is ready to test two of Einsteins theories about the nature of space and time, and how the Earth distorts them. The unmanned satellite will orbit 640km 400 miles above Earth, measuring any slight changes in gravity. Perfect spheres The satellite will carry four ping-pong-sized balls made from quartz and sealed in a vacuum. The scientists behind the project say they are the most perfect spheres ever made. To ensure accuracy, the balls must be kept chilled to near absolute zero, inside the largest vacuum flask ever flown in space, and isolated from any disturbances in the quietest environment ever produced, said Anne Kinney, director Nasas division of astronomy and physics. If Einstein is correct, there should be slight changes to the balls orientation, or spin axis. Scientists will carefully measure the expected tiny changes in the balls movements. Einstein proposed in 1916 that space and time form a structure that can be curved by the presence of a body. Gravity Probe B will test how space and time are warped by the presence of the Earth, and how the Earths rotation twists and drags space-time around with it. The warping effect has been measured before, but the twisting effect, called frame-dragging, has never been directly detected. Francis Everitt, the principal investigator of the project, said: Arent Einsteins theories all established and confirmed? After all it was 50 years ago that Einstein himself died and its 100 years next year when he developed his first theory of relativity. If there are no more delays, the probes mission should be completed in 16 months time. |