Une application inédite (?) des voiles solaires, présentée ce mois-ci à l'International Symposium on Solar Sailing (New York): la vérification de l'effet Lense-Thirring:
(article de Space.com):
Solar Sail Experiment Could Prove Space-Time Theory
(article de Space.com):
Solar Sail Experiment Could Prove Space-Time Theory
Space.com a écrit:A gossamer solar sail would be a prime platform for an experiment that would test the so-called frame-dragging hypothesis in Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, said Roman Kezerashvili, a professor of physics at New York City College of Technology. (...) According to the theory, a spinning solar sail flying within 4.6 million miles of the sun should rotate differently than it would further out depending on the frame-dragging effect's strength, Kezerashvili said. So a motion sensor attached to a solar sail could test whether the frame-dragging effect exists at all, he added.