Gravitational Physics Research
Gravitational physics research at ISPAE is connected with NASA's Relativity Mission (Gravity Probe B (GP-B)) which will perform a test of Einstein's General Relativity Theory. GP-B will measure the geodetic and motional effect predicted by General Relativity Theory with extremely stable and sensitive gyroscopes in an earth orbiting satellite. Both effects cause a very small precession of the gyroscope spin axis. The goal of the GP-B experiment is the measurement of the gyroscope precession with very high precision. GP-B is being developed by a team at Stanford University and is scheduled for launch in the year 2001. The related UAH research is a collaboration with Stanford University and MSFC. This research is focussed primarily on the error analysis and data reduction methods of the experiment but includes other topics concerned with experiment systems and their performance affecting the science measurements. The hydrogen maser is the most accurate and stable clock available. It will be used in future gravitational physics missions to measure relativistic effects such as the second order Doppler effect. The HMC experiment, currently under development at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), will test the performance and capability of the hydrogen maser clock for gravitational physics measurements. UAH in collaboration with the SAO science team will study methods to evaluate the behavior and performance of the HMC. The GP-B data analysis developed by the Stanford group involves complicated mathematical operations. This situation led to the idea to investigate alternate and possibly simpler mathematical procedures to extract the GP-B measurements form the data stream. Comparison of different methods would increase the confidence in the selected scheme.