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GPS Almost Failed Because the Pentagon Didn't Believe Einstein

In 1977, the US Air Force launched the first GPS satellite with atomic clocks that needed to be synchronized to billionths of a second. There was one problem: Einstein's theory of relativity predicted that clocks in orbit would tick 38 microseconds per day faster than clocks on Earth due to gravity and velocity effects. Engineers built corrections into the system to compensate. But some Pentagon officials didn't believe relativity was real—they thought the corrections were unnecessary and wanted to launch without them. The compromise: launch with corrections turned off, test it, then decide. Within hours, timing data drifted. Position calculations failed. Error compounded fast. They turned on the relativity corrections remotely. The clocks synchronized. The system worked. Without Einstein's corrections, GPS errors would reach miles within days. Every GPS satellite since 1977 runs with relativity corrections enabled. Your phone knows where you are because engineers proved Einstein right in orbit. #GPS #Einstein #Relativity #SpaceHistory #AtomicClocks #Physics #Satellites #ScienceHistory #HistoryShorts #Navigation #Theory #1970s #Technology Related searches: GPS relativity corrections, Einstein GPS satellites, atomic clocks in space, how GPS works, relativity and GPS, GPS history 1977, time dilation satellites