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'Einstein Probe' Delayed

Posted by timothy on from the dying-with-curiosity dept.

isorox writes "The BBC is reporting that a NASA satellite designed to test frame dragging, predicted by the theory of relativity, has been delayed for 24 hours because mission control couldn't verify the correct software had been loaded. The probe was proposed 35 years ago, but has never had the funding until now. The question remains is what happens if Frame Dragging isn't observed - will the experiment be wrong (in other words there's no point to it), or will we get faster-than-light ships for Christmas?"

8 of 409 comments (clear)

  1. Kirk to Enterprise... by AgentAce · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm voting for warp drive on this one!

  2. I can understand by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 5, Funny

    because mission control couldn't verify the correct software had been loaded.

    Man, I must have missed a career as NASA flight controller, because I feel exactly the same way each time XP goes to windowsupdate.microsoft.com...

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
  3. "Frame dragging" already proven by wronskyMan · · Score: 5, Funny

    by British scientists!

    --
    --- You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad- Neal (not Cowboy) Boortz
  4. I observe Frame Dragging all the time.... by RabidMoose · · Score: 5, Funny

    Whenever I try to run games at too high resolution on this computer, the frames just start dragging along...

  5. Wrong name by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Funny

    In this case its called "foot dragging", not "frame dragging".

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
  6. Re:Faster than light ships? by otis+wildflower · · Score: 5, Funny

    Unfortunately, black holes are sparse in this neck of the woods

    _UN_fortunately?

  7. Re:Faster than light ships? by SkOink · · Score: 5, Funny

    > > Unfortunately, black holes are sparse in this neck of the woods
    > _UN_fortunately?

    Well, in most necks of the woods they're actually rather dense. :)

    HOO-ha!

    --
    ---- I'll take you in a Hunt deathmatch any day.
  8. They didn't follow the rules: by Alien54 · · Score: 5, Funny
    The forgot to follow these rules

    Where to Publish Your Paper

    1. If you understand it and can prove it, then send it to a journal of mathematics.
    2. If you understand it, but can't prove it, then send it to a physics journal.
    3. If you can't understand it, but can prove it, then send it to an economics journal.
    4. If you can neither understand it nor prove it, then send it to a psychology journal.
    5. If it attempts to make something important out of something trivial, then send it to a journal of education.
    6. If it attempts to make something trivial out of some-thing important, send it to a journal of metaphysics.
    I'm sure folks can add a few items suitable to this conversation and Slashdot.
    --
    "It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"