Re: Geocentrism and other issues
Bill Hamilton (hamilton@predator.cs.gmr.com)
Mon, 9 Oct 1995 15:47:36 -0500>Glenn quoted Gordie:
>>>>2. The usual interpretation of the Michelson-Morley experiment, that there
>>is no ether, is not essential and can be replaced by an interpretation that
>>our speed with respect to an ether is zero. <<
>
>But -- as I believe someone points out below, that requires that the ether
>rotate with the earth at its rotational velocity, since the MM experiment was
>done at night and in the day time. In one case, if the ether was fixed in
>inertial space, the earth's orbital velaocity would add to the tangential
>velocity due to rotation, and in the other case it would subtract. If light
>moved at fixed velocity in the ether and the ether was fixed, then different
>velocities would be measured in the two cases. They weren't, and the usual
>conclusion is that there is no ether.
>>
>...
>
>>Is my reasoning correct? I am not very good in relativity. Does anyone know
>>if a Michelson-Morley experiment has been performed on the shuttle?
>>
>The original MM appparatus required quite a bit of real estate. We can
>measure nanosecond time intervals beter now, so perhaps a smaller apparatus
>can be built, but I have no idea whether it has, or whether MM experiments
>have been conducted in orbit.
Bill Hamilton | Vehicle Systems Research
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