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There have been a couple of posts over the last few months that posit a relativistic-speed path in a circle around the Earth and I want to make sure I correctly understand the ramifications. It's the twin paradox in a circle. SO ... here's a scenario that I think will solidify it for me:
This is a thought experiment, not something that would be practical, but it is remotely within the realm of physical possibility.
Rocket achieves Earth orbit and then with a massive waste of fuel accelerates in the circular orbit to very low relativistic speeds (say .001c), and then decelerates in the orbit and returns to earth.
The person on the craft would be slightly younger than the one on earth, yes? I don't care if it's fractions of a second or what, just the absolute fact.
That is, the end result is exactly the same as if the craft had accelerated away from Earth and then it had turned around and came back (which is in essence what it IS doing).
This is a thought experiment, not something that would be practical, but it is remotely within the realm of physical possibility.
Rocket achieves Earth orbit and then with a massive waste of fuel accelerates in the circular orbit to very low relativistic speeds (say .001c), and then decelerates in the orbit and returns to earth.
The person on the craft would be slightly younger than the one on earth, yes? I don't care if it's fractions of a second or what, just the absolute fact.
That is, the end result is exactly the same as if the craft had accelerated away from Earth and then it had turned around and came back (which is in essence what it IS doing).