WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

Workers in the spacecraft processing facility on North Vandenberg Air Force Base get ready to begin processing the Gravity Probe B experiment, including setting up mechanical and electrical ground support equipment, making necessary connections and conditioning the spacecraft battery. The Gravity Probe B will launch a payload of four gyroscopes into low-Earth polar orbit to test two extraordinary predictions of Albert Einsteins general theory of relativity: the geodetic effect (how space and time are warped by the presence of the Earth) and frame dragging (how Earths rotation drags space and time around with it). Once in orbit, for 18 months each gyroscopes spin axis will be monitored as it travels through local spacetime, observing and measuring these effects. The experiment was developed by Stanford University, Lockheed Martin and NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center.