Einstein Gets Tested

Coming up on Saturday, April 17, 2004, NASA expects to launch a satellite carrying four pingpong-sized balls to test Albert Einstein's genius.

The satellite, called Gravity Probe B, is scheduled to take the spheres into an orbit 400 miles above Earth. Once there, each ball of quartz will spin in its vacuum-sealed container. If Einstein was right, the spheres should experience some slight but measurable changes in gravity.

The mission's goal is to explore, and perhaps confirm, Einstein's theories about the nature of space and time, and how the Earth distorts them. Together, these are generally known as his Theory of Relativity.

Whatever data and other evidence scientists collect through Gravity Probe B, the effects on science and technology will likely be profound. It could bring us one step closer, for example, to accelerated space travel, and perhaps even time travel.

So to prepare for this next leap into new scientific frontiers, this week you'll get to visit with Albert Einstein and catch some insight into one man's thoughts that sparked a revolution.

Einstein's Legacy

First of all, let's shake off any Fear of Physics you might have and get an easy-to-understand view of Einstein's Relativity.

What would be the speed of light per hour? How many times faster is that than drivers on the highway?

So what would happen if you were traveling faster and even near the speed of light? Make sure to take a look at the varying speeds, including normal, 50% of light speed, 80%, 90%, and 99.9%. You can also Fly through the house at different rates, if you want.

Why exactly does the house look bent? Why does it look more and more curved the faster you travel?

Now that you get the basic concept of the man's theory, meet Einstein the man at the American Museum of Natural History.

Begin by learning about Einstein's Revolution. Why was the 1919 solar eclipse a key event to Einstein's credibility as a scientist?

Read more about his Life & Times, and click Next to move through the section. In which academic subjects did Einstein excel? What kinds of hobbies did he have? What was his first job out of college?

Make sure to also read the summaries of Einstein's four groundbreaking articles that were published in the prestigious journal Annalen der Physik in 1905.

Now that you've gotten to know him a little better, check out his ideas on Light. What was Einstein's revolutionary notion about the speed of light? According to the theory, why can't objects travel faster than the speed of light?

As you'll soon discover, Einstein's imagination also extended to the nature of Time. What does the concept of time have to do with how fast a person or object is traveling? What exactly is a "frame of reference" and what does it mean? What happened when scientists compared the time lapsed after one atomic clock was flown quickly around the Earth, while one remained on the ground?

Also important to Einstein was his ideas on Energy. Make sure to click on the image of the equation (on page 3 of this section) to learn more about what that means. So how did Einstein's thoughts about the relationship between energy and mass differ from other theories at the time? Why did other scientists generally accept the equation?

Gravity, whose effects will be tested by the Gravity Probe B, also comes into play in Einstein's theory of relativity. How did he resolve his theory with the work of Sir Isaac Newton? What exactly bends the four-dimensional grid? What does this have to do with black holes?

Is Time Traveling In Our Future?

So, might it be actually possible to Time Travel? At this NOVA site, first try to Think Like Einstein.

Read the introduction, then go on to part 1. Do the math, check your answer, then try part 2. What was your guess and why? Now try part 3. What's the solution to this paradox? Which one can vary -- the speed of light or time?

Also read some of the commentary at this website, Traveling Through Time and Sagan on Time Travel. How have people referred to time in their languages and cultures? In what ways could time traveling shape our global society?

Since we all might be talking Timespeak soon, brush up on some useful vocabulary. What are absolute space and absolute time? How does this compare to general relativity? What's a singularity?

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