NASA Knows Time Travel is Fact?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of time travel, particularly in relation to NASA's use of satellites and the effects of time dilation as described by the theories of relativity. Participants explore the implications of these theories on the perception of time for fast-moving objects and the adjustments made to satellite clocks.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Niels Bohr mentions a documentary claiming that NASA adjusts satellite clocks due to time dilation effects caused by their speed relative to Earth.
  • Warren asserts that all physicists understand special and general-relativistic time dilation, indicating a shared foundational knowledge in the field.
  • Niels Bohr requests a summary of the theory of time dilation, suggesting a desire for clarification on the topic.
  • A participant references "Star Trek" to argue that faster-than-light travel does not equate to time travel, introducing a cultural perspective on the concept.
  • Warren explains that a clock moving at high velocity appears to run slowly to an observer, and similarly, a clock in a stronger gravitational field also appears to run slowly, which is relevant for GPS timing.
  • A later reply challenges the notion that NASA claims clocks "time travel" into the future, clarifying that time dilation means that faster objects experience time differently from stationary observers.
  • Another participant expresses a personal definition of "time travel" as requiring a jump to another time, rather than the gradual experience of time that occurs in everyday life.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the definition of time travel and the implications of time dilation. While there is a shared understanding of the principles of relativity, the interpretation of these principles in the context of time travel remains contested.

Contextual Notes

Participants have not fully resolved the definitions and implications of time travel versus time dilation, and there are varying interpretations of what constitutes time travel.

Niels Bohr
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Hello,

I just completed viewing a documentary on The Learning Channel on time travel, and what they said greatly suprised me: satellites that NASA uses are set up so that the clock on the satellite is rewinded or set to adjust to the fraction of a second the satellite gains by traveling around Earth at a faster speed than the Earth rotates. In other words, NASA knows fast moving objects time travel into the future, so they have to adjust the clocks, or at least this is what the narrator claimed on the show I just watched today.

Regards,

Niels Bohr
 
Computer science news on Phys.org
Every physicist on Earth understands both special- and general-relativistic time dilation.

- Warren
 
Originally posted by chroot
Every physicist on Earth understands both special- and general-relativistic time dilation.

- Warren

Can you summarize the theory for me?

Thanks.

Niels Bohr
 
haven't you ever seen star trek? they travel faster than the speed of light, yet they don't travel in time.
 
Originally posted by Niels Bohr
Can you summarize the theory for me?

Thanks.

Niels Bohr
When a clock travels with a high velocity relative to you, it will appear to you to run slowly.

When a clock is higher than you in a gravitational field, it will appear to you to run slowly.

Both of these effects are necessarily considered for timing satellites like the GPS.

- Warren
 
Originally posted by Niels Bohr In other words, NASA knows fast moving objects time travel into the future, so they have to adjust the clocks,
I'm sure they did not say the clocks time travel to the future.
The claim made by the theories of Relativity is that the faster an object is going relative to you, the observer, the slower time passes for that faster object when you, the observer, measure it. A person on board the faster spacecraft doesn't measure his own time as passing any differently, though. To them time passes normally. Strangely, if they measure our time, our time is measured as going slower.
 
I don't consider this "time travel." "time travel" to me would mean making a jump to another time, skipping the time between. Otherwise, I'm sitting here now experiencing time travel.
 

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