Spacecraft Launches to Test the Hunt for Ripples in the Fabric of Spacetime

universetoday.com ^ | on December 3, 2015 | Nancy Atkinson

[BenLurkin]

The European Space Agency successfully launched the LISA Pathfinder, a spacecraft designed to demonstrate technology for observing gravitational waves in space. The launch took place at Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana on a Vega rocket, at 4:04 GMT on December 3, (10:04 pm EST Dec 2), 2015.

Gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of spacetime, which were predicted by Albert Einstein in his General Theory of Relativity. So far, because they are extremely tiny and incredibly faint, gravitational waves have proved to be elusive. The technology needed to detect them is highly sensitive and therefore has been difficult to conceive, plan and build.

The LISA Pathfinder mission is only testing the technology to see if it will be possible to detect the waves caused by a gravitational event such as the collision of two black holes, a supernova or a star with a wobbly spin.

Such an event should cause a minute distortion in the fabric of space, and it is predicted that these tiny changes should be detectable. However, the accuracy needed to detect any gravitational waves is extraordinary. An example of how tiny gravitational waves are: the ripples emitted by a pair of orbiting black holes would stretch a million kilometer-long ruler by less than the size of an atom.

[BenLurkin]

ping

[Hot Tabasco]

Such an event should cause a minute distortion in the fabric of space, and it is predicted that these tiny changes should be detectable.

I'm playing softball tomorrow, I'll have to bring this topic up in the bar afterwards and see what my homies have to say about it.......

[higgmeister]

Just wait, Doctor Who will us his Sonic Screwdriver to zero out any data it finds.
(I know he got rid of the sonic screwdriver but this was an older Doctor Who that was still using it then)

[o_1_2_3__]

More things for .models to convince people they’re right about.

[BenLurkin]

Tell them that it represents the true secret of throwing a perfect knuckleball.

[11th Commandment]

The technology needed to detect them is highly sensitive and therefore has been difficult to conceive, plan and build.

That's awesome--- can we now build a machine to detect radical Islamic terror attacks?

[adorno]

...the ripples emitted by a pair of orbiting black holes would stretch a million kilometer-long ruler by less than the size of an atom.

Okay...

The experiment seems simple enough...

Just create a pair of orbiting black holes, and place a million kilometer-long ruler between them. Then, measure the rules as the black holes dance around each other.

[dfwgator]

Ripples never come back.

[adorno]

...can we now build a machine to detect radical Islamic terror attacks?

That device already exists.

It's called a brain, with common sense.

[LYDIAONTARIO]

I do not care for the sunglasses replacing the screwdriver but the Tardis is still cool!

[onedoug]

The General Theory of Relativity has stood up remarkably well so far. I’m pretty sure they’re there.

[wally_bert]

The glasses are growing on me.

The last episode was really good even if it was a tad bizarre. I liked it.

[Pilgrim's Progress]

yea, but, what about high tide and low tide, or would those be called ‘tudes?’

[Pilgrim's Progress]

>>>can we now build a machine to detect radical Islamic terror attacks?<<<

Well, we do have a pretty effective gaydar . . . it prolly works on the same principle, pretty much. You see a guy that smells like a goat wearing a huge overcoat in the summer - yep, he a terrorist.

[higgmeister]

I agree but they likely had to give to Capaldi so that he would stand out from his other incarnations.

[bunkerhill7]

my cat rides gravitational waves all the time coz she can back-flip in mid-air with no visible means of support.

[butlerweave]

Where’s Doc Brown ?

[Da Coyote]

The detector will require 1.2 gigawatts.

[crosdaddy]

And hard chrome muffler bearings.