Gyroscope rotor and housing from Gravity Probe B experiment

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Gyroscope rotor and housing from Gravity Probe B experiment

The Gravity Probe B experiment is a NASA and Stanford University physics mission designed to test two effects of Einstein’s general theory of relativity – the geodetic effect and the frame-dragging effect. It was an orbital satellite using high-precision gyroscopes to measure minute changes in gravity due to relativistic effects. It was launched April 20, 2004 and data collection was completed on August 15, 2005. The Gravity Probe B team is currently in the process of analyzing the data. The entire mission is expected to be concluded by 2010.

[edit] How this instrument was used

The gyroscopes in Gravity Probe B had several markers to allow scientists to track the spin of the instrument as it was perturbed by the Earth’s gravitational influence. The gyroscope rotors for Gravity Probe B are the most perfect spheres ever manufactured, with only 8 nanometres of out-of-roundness. The housing is similarly precision-made, in order to detect relativistic effects on the gyroscope.

[edit] Memories

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[edit] In the Science Museum's Records

Inv. no: 2005-75