For Release: July 11, 2003<br /><br /><br />Steve Roy<br />MSFC, Huntsville, Ala.<br />(Phone: 256/544-0034)<br /><br /><br />George H. Diller<br />Kennedy Space Center<br />321-867-2468<br /><br /><br />KSC RELEASE: 59-03<br /><br /><br />SPACECRAFT FOR NASA MISSION TO TEST EINSTEIN'S THEORY ARRIVES AT VANDENBERG<br />AIR FORCE BASE LAUNCH SITE<br /><br /><br />The NASA spacecraft designed to test two important predictions of Albert<br />Einstein's Theory of General Relativity was shipped yesterday from the<br />Lockheed Martin Space Systems Facility in Sunnyvale, Calif., to the launch<br />site at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., after completing environmental<br />testing.<br /><br /><br />NASA's Gravity Probe B mission, also known as GP-B, will use four<br />ultra-precise gyroscopes to test Einstein's theory that space and time are<br />distorted by the presence of massive objects. To accomplish this, the<br />mission will measure two factors -- how space and time are warped by the<br />presence of the Earth, and how the Earth's rotation drags space-time around<br />with it. <br /><br /><br />Stanford University in Stanford, Calif., and Lockheed Martin performed the<br />testing. Shipped by road transport, the vehicle arrived July 10 at<br />Vandenberg for pre-launch operations in anticipation of a launch in late<br />2003. <br /><br /><br />NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages the GP-B<br />program. NASA's prime contractor for the mission, Stanford University,<br />conceived the experiment and is responsible for the design and integration<br />of the science instrument, as well as for mission operations and data<br />analysis. Lockheed Martin, a major subcontractor, designed, integrated and<br />tested the spacecraft and some of its major payload components.<br /><br /><br />The erection of the Boeing Delta II launch vehicle on Space Launch Complex 2<br />(SLC-2) at Vandenberg Air Force Base is currently scheduled to begin on<br />September 15 with erection of the first stage. Attachment of the nine<br />strap-on solid rocket boosters is scheduled to occur in sets of three on<br />September 16 - 18. The second stage is planned for mating atop the first<br />stage on September 19. Gravity Probe B will be transported from the<br />spacecraft hangar to SLC-2 on October 29 and hoisted atop the second stage.<br />The Delta II fairing will be installed around the spacecraft on November 5,<br />part of final prelaunch preparations. The launch is the responsibility of<br />NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida.<br /><br /><br />NOTE TO EDITORS: <br />Low- and hi-resolution JPEG image files of Gravity Probe B can be found at:<br /><http://einstein.stanford.edu/gen_int/pict_gal/nav_map_image.html><br /><br /><br />For more information on the Gravity Probe B mission,<br />see:<http://einstein.stanford.edu/> and <http://www.gravityprobeb.com/>