Time. A simple yet complex factor in our day to day life. 60 seconds make an hour and 24 hours a day. 365 days make a yea,r and that’s how we turn one year older. But what if we were living in space?
Does the 365 days science apply in the outer space? Well, before taking a rocket trip to space we need to understand some basics rules of relativity.
Imagine you are a formula one racer. You’re racing against Lewis Hamilton. Chances are slim but you are leading his car by the speed of 20km/h. Now, let’s put some science into it. According to the laws of motion by Newton, speed is always relative to something/someone. We use the phrase ‘with respect to’ always while talking in terms of speed. Your speed to an observer watching you race would be 120 km/h. But, for Hamilton, it would be just 20km/h since he is desperately chasing you with a speed of 100 km/h. This is called Relative Motion. Now imagine Albert Einstein is in the stands witnessing you two race. His dilemma is another theory of Maxwell which says the speed of light is always the same with respect to any observer. Why is only light an exception? This question led to the formulation of the classical theory of relativity and the famous equation E=MC².
Now let’s put you and Einstein in a spacecraft, and into space. You both are travelling at the speed of light. After your successful adventure of a year, you return to earth only to find that 50 years have already been passed here. Gives you Goosebumps, right? But not to Einstein. According to his theory. Time passes a little slower as we move a little faster. However, the light had to cover a greater distance at the fixed amount of time (In this case 1 earth year). By the laws of motion, speed equals distance/time. For the speed of light to remain constant the with increased distance there should also be an increase in time. So, the time on earth is actually greater than the time in space. This increased distance, that the light had to travel was due to the altitude of your spacecraft flying far from the Earth’s gravity and thus to satisfy Maxwell’s theory, Einstein concluded it must have been the time constrain which must increase to compensate for the increased distance. This conclusion is known as Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. Since this is altitude dependent. We can say, though, in nanoseconds, your head is older than your feet.