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NASA News
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
John F. Kennedy Space Center
Kennedy Space Center, Florida 32899
AC 321 867-2468
_____________________________________________________________________
For Release:  July 11, 2003

Steve Roy
MSFC, Huntsville, Ala.
(Phone: 256/544-0034)

George H. Diller
Kennedy Space Center
321-867-2468

KSC RELEASE: 59-03

SPACECRAFT FOR NASA MISSION TO TEST EINSTEIN'S THEORY ARRIVES AT
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE LAUNCH SITE

The NASA spacecraft designed to test two important predictions of
Albert Einstein's Theory of General Relativity was shipped yesterday
from the Lockheed Martin Space Systems Facility in Sunnyvale, Calif.,
to the launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., after
completing environmental testing.

NASA's Gravity Probe B mission, also known as GP-B, will use four
ultra-precise gyroscopes to test Einstein's theory that space and
time are distorted by the presence of massive objects. To accomplish
this, the mission will measure two factors -- how space and time are
warped by the presence of the Earth, and how the Earth's rotation
drags space-time around with it.

Stanford University in Stanford, Calif., and Lockheed Martin
performed the testing. Shipped by road transport, the vehicle arrived
July 10 at Vandenberg for pre-launch operations in anticipation of a
launch in late 2003.

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages the
GP-B program. NASA's prime contractor for the mission, Stanford
University, conceived the experiment and is responsible for the
design and integration of the science instrument, as well as for
mission operations and data analysis. Lockheed Martin, a major
subcontractor, designed, integrated and tested the spacecraft and
some of its major payload components. 

The erection of the Boeing Delta II launch vehicle on Space Launch
Complex 2 (SLC-2) at Vandenberg Air Force Base is currently scheduled
to begin on September 15 with erection of the first stage.
Attachment of the nine strap-on solid rocket boosters is scheduled to
occur in sets of three on September 16 - 18.  The second stage is
planned for mating atop the first stage on September 19.  Gravity
Probe B will be transported from the spacecraft hangar to SLC-2 on
October 29 and hoisted atop the second stage. The Delta II fairing
will be installed around the spacecraft on November 5, part of final
prelaunch preparations.  The launch is the responsibility of NASA's
John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 

NOTE TO EDITORS: 

Low- and hi-resolution JPEG image files of Gravity Probe B can be
found at:
http://einstein.stanford.edu/gen_int/pict_gal/nav_map_image.html

For more information on the Gravity Probe B mission,
see: http://einstein.stanford.edu/ and http://www.gravityprobeb.com/

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