[MLUG - DISCUSSION] Stanford ready to give Einstein big exam

[Mike Miller <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

If you find this interesting, go to the web and see the figures and the
rest of the story...

Full text:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/04/05/MNG0K60C151.DTL

San Francisco Chronicle
April 5, 2004, Page A-1

Stanford ready to give Einstein big exam
Satellite experiment will test whether General Theory of Relativity is correct

David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor

After 40 years of effort, frustrating delays and budget battles between
NASA and Congress, Stanford scientists are finally ready to test whether
Albert Einstein got it right when he published his General Theory of
Relativity.

At stake in the Stanford experiment are many of the concepts that underlie
modern theoretical physics. If the revered German-born scientist was
indeed right about space, time and gravity, then scientists can breathe a
sigh of relief and go on with their many discoveries about the
accelerating universe.

But if the experiment -- to be carried into space April 17 aboard a
high-precision satellite dubbed Gravity Probe-B -- reveals errors in
Einstein's theory, then many basic assumptions by today's physicists and
cosmologists about the state of the universe will be called into question.

At a NASA press briefing in Washington last week, the two Stanford
researchers who have worked on the experiment for virtually their entire
careers -- Francis Everitt and Bradford W. Parkinson -- described the
intricacies of their $700 million satellite project."It's hard to imagine
a simpler experiment ... yet we are hoping it will prove to be very
exciting," said Everitt, the project's principal investigator.

[snip]
_______________________________________________
discussion mailing list
EMAIL:PROTECTED
http://mlug.missouri.edu/mailman/listinfo/discussion