Trajectory & orbital insertion
Ascent path is a representation — true ascent telemetry isn’t public.
Provider
United States Air Force
Provider type
Government
Orbit
LEO
Mission type
Astrophysics
Launch site
United States of America
Date
Tue, 20 Apr 2004 16:57:24 GMT
Orbital launch #
#4653 ever
Mission
Gravity Probe B (GP-B) was a satellite-based experiment to test two unverified predictions of general relativity: the geodetic effect and frame-dragging. This was to be accomplished by measuring, very precisely, tiny changes in the direction of spin of four gyroscopes contained in an Earth-orbiting satellite at 650 km (400 mi) altitude, crossing directly over the poles.