A Spacecraft to Probe the Universe
<p>Imagine launching a spacecraft at a substantial fraction of the speed of light, equipped with a perfect clock and a laser that transmits pulses towards Earth periodically. The precise arrival times and directions of the pulses would inform us of the location, velocity and acceleration of the spacecraft as it moves away.</p>
<p>According to Albert Einstein’s <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/general-relativity" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Theory of General Relativity</a>, gravity is the curvature of spacetime. The spacecraft would surf on a curved spacetime like a surfer riding on the surface of a choppy ocean, and its motion can be used to measure the underlying curvature. What could we infer from the pulse arrival times and directions?</p>
<p><a href="https://avi-loeb.medium.com/a-spacecraft-to-probe-the-universe-51739a20a69c"><strong>Read More</strong></a></p>