NASA Gravity Probe Set for Launch

The Real Dr John writes "NASA announced yesterday that its longest running program, Gravity Probe B, was ready and scheduled for launch on April 17th. The project has taken 44 years to complete, at a cost of approximately $700 million. The reason for the high cost is that the probe contains the most sensitive gyroscopic equipment ever created, which will be used to test Einstein's theory of gravity. Einstein predicted that the gravity created by a large body warped space-time, but he also predicted that if the large body was rotating it would create a drag effect on space-time known as frame dragging. Gravity Probe B will be able to test Einstein's theory using Earth's relatively small gravitational field because the instruments are so sensitive."

Comments

Who cares?

[EmbeddedJanitor]

If you need a $700 million probe to detect the effect then it hardly has bearing on most people's lives.

Important science is only of important to scientists and is less real to people on planet earth than important fashion statements etc.