The probe will test whether space-time can be distorted by Earth's rotation
Published:
20 April 2004 y., Tuesday
A satellite that will put Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity to the test has had its launch delayed until Tuesday.
The US space agency's $700m (£387m) probe was due to launch on a Boeing Delta 2 rocket from Vandenberg Air Base in California at 1701 GMT.
The probe will now wait until 1657 GMT on Tuesday for another launch attempt. Ground controllers could not verify the rocket had all its correct flight software loaded, and halted the launch.
Gravity Probe B will test Einstein's ideas about space and time and how the Earth distorts them.
It will carry four near-perfect spheres in gyroscopes to help verify two key elements of Einstein's theory. The probe will align itself with its "guide star" IM Pegasi, so that the spin axes of the spheres point to this star.
Over the course of the year their spin axes will be monitored for tiny changes that could be caused by the effects Einstein described.
Šaltinis:
BBC News
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
With the new influenza season underway, MEPs have criticised the EU's "disproportionate" response to the outbreak of the H1N1 ("swine flu") virus in 2009-2010.
more »
Over half the EU adult population is now overweight or obese according to the “Health at a Glance: Europe 2010” report published by the European Commission and the OECD today.
more »
Over 130 people die in central Haiti due to a suspected outbreak of cholera.
more »
The Influenza A (H1N1) pandemic returned to the Parliament last week but fortunately not in the literal sense.
more »
The Commission announced today its intention to restructure the process of progressive adoption of the list of permitted health claims on food products (also known as “Article 13 claims”).
more »
Patients will be better informed on how to use medicines, and enabled to report their adverse effects directly to national authorities, thanks to updates of EU laws agreed with the Council and endorsed by Parliament on Wednesday.
more »
Doctors in Peru are facing outbreaks of two killer diseases, rabies and the plague, being spread by bats and rats.
more »
Scientists warn a new drug-resistant superbug could spread worldwide, fuelled in part by medical tourism.
more »
Chinese officials say they are investigating reports that tainted milk powder has caused premature sexual development in baby girls.
more »
A woman in India says she has to sell her 6-month-old baby in order to pay her husband's medical expenses.
more »