Scientist Spends Lifetime on Space Probe

April 20, 2004 -- Francis Everitt has waited a long time for this moment. After decades of delays, and a few more anxious days of waiting, he's finally seen the successful launch of a space probe whose aim is to test Einstein's theory of general relativity.

The Gravity Probe B probe launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 12:57 p.m. ET today, following an initial delay of two days because of a short circuit, and then a further delay Monday when NASA could not verify whether some last-minute data had been loaded aboard the rocket.

But Everitt is a patient man. He has been waiting 42 years.

Everitt was a young physics researcher in 1962, just recently arrived from his native Britain, when he was recruited by physicists at Stanford University to help them on an intriguing experiment: They wanted to build a satellite to test Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity.

"We thought that maybe I should come to Stanford for a couple of years and see if it led anywhere," says Everitt.

He has been there ever since. He is now 69. Though he is a full professor at Stanford, he has never taught a course. He has spent all his time on general relativity.

"I think there was a strong belief in the rightness of the cause," he says carefully.

Twisting Space

Einstein's theory holds that gravity — from the Earth or anything else — is not simply a force that pulls on things. It warps and twists the space around it, ever so slightly.

Everitt and his colleagues proposed to launch a satellite with supersensitive gyroscopes on board. If Einstein was right, the gyroscopes would slowly shift from their original orientation as the ship orbited the Earth.

"It's a useful experiment," says Roger Launius, a historian at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., who worked many years for NASA. "It's really simply a question of whether or not it's worth the time, energy and money that has gone into it."

That question loomed larger and larger as the years went by. Exotic new technology had to be developed to build the gyroscopes. NASA originally approved a budget of about $35 million for the satellite; it ballooned to $700 million.

Tenacious Advocate for Probe

Some members of Congress found Gravity Probe B to be an easy target. They killed the project no less than seven times — and each time Francis Everitt lobbied it back to life.

"Knowing his personality and having traveled to Congress with him many times, tenacious is certainly one of his attributes," says Bradford Parkinson, a partner of his on the project.

A cruel irony is that in the time since Gravity Probe B first took shape, other experiments have indirectly proved Einstein's theory. But Everitt has never given up.

"The fact that you're probing into something as basic as time and space, I find that interesting and important," says Everitt.

He allows himself a hint of a smile. "And I would hope Einstein, from wherever he's looking down on us, is taking some interest himself."