A Satellite Mishap Is Letting Physicists Test Einstein’s Theory of Relativity

When life gives you lemons , make lemonade , right ? That , at least , is the motto the European Space Agency seems to have squeeze with esteem to two wayward satellites , which are being repurposed to provide the most precise appraisal yet of how sobriety affects the passage of time .

Last twelvemonth , a Russian Soyuz rocket by chance placed two ESA - operated GPS satellites into prolate , rather than circular , celestial orbit . The faulty launching impart the satellites unfit to perform their intended duty as part of a globose Galileo GPS scheme . It would have been a huge waste matter of money and resources , but there ’s a silver medal lining .

To wit , physicist now have a singular opportunity to test one of the key predictions of Albert Einstein ’s hypothesis of general relativity : That clocks run more tardily when they ’re close to heavy objects , because of how sombreness falsify the fabric of spacetime . ( Remember Miller ’s planet from Interstellar , where an 60 minutes is actually seven class of Earth time thanks to the monster black hollow next door ? Same principle ) .

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As the two Galileo satellites get around toward and off from the Earth in their oblong orbits , German and Gallic physicists will give chase the speeding and slowing of time using the space vehicle ’ on - board atomic clocks . To escort , our best measurements of the so - squall time dilation effect were made in 1976 , in an experiment that last a bare two hours . The Galileo satellite will be tracked for a year , enabling physicist to make measurements up to four time more accurate .

By this meter next yr , we ’ll have a better idea of precisely how much sombreness have sentence to dilate . The off-the-cuff experiment is a great admonisher that in skill , a loser can often be twist into an chance . And that in space , one should never , ever waste anything .

[ Nature News ]

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