How does Gravity Probe B use gyroscopes to prove General Relativity?
Gravity Probe B is a “Relativity Gyroscope Satellite” that will be launched into a polar earth orbit at a 400 mile altitude. Four gyroscopes in this system should be able to measure how space and time are warped by the presence of our tiny earth. Yes, the earth’s mass is insignificant in comparison to neutron stars, black holes, and even our own sun. It does, however, still distort the spacetime around it. There are two effects due to this distortion that Gravity Probe B proposes to look for: • Frame-Dragging Not only is the earth a massive body, but it is also rotating. The prediction is that as it spins it actually pulls the fabric of spacetime around with it. Picture a bowling ball held in a flat piece of fabric. Now rotate the ball. The fabric will ripple and twist around the ball. That’s what we imagine is happening between the earth and its warped spacetime. The application of the gyroscope is to see how the pull of earth’s warpage of spacetime changes the angle of the gyroscope.
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