MG11 
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Testing Einstein in Space: A Marriage of Physics & Engineering

The Gravity Probe B relativity gyroscope mission was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on 20 April, 2004. GP-B tests: 1) the 6.6 arc-s/year geodetic effect due to the motion of the gyroscope through the curved space-time around the Earth; 2) the 0.041 arc-s/year ‘frame-dragging’ effect due to the rotating Earth. The mission has required the development of cryogenic gyroscopes with drift-rates 7 orders of magnitude better than the best inertial navigation gyroscopes. These and other essential technologies, for an instrument which once launched must work perfectly, have come into being as the result of an intensive collaboration between Stanford physicists and engineers, NASA and industry. GP-B entered its science phase on August 27, 2004 and completed data collection on September 29, 2005. Publication of the science results is planned for April 2007. In addition to describing the science and technologies, an account will be given of the real-life experience of setting up and operating a physics experiment in space.