Космический паспорт

What "time slows down" actually means

Travel at 99% of light speed and time runs seven times slower. Come back and your twin has aged more.

Speed stretches time

Special relativity says the faster you move, the slower your clock runs. At 87% of light speed, half rate. At 99%, one seventh. At 99.99%, one seventieth.

This is not a metaphor

GPS satellites orbit at 3.9 km/s, losing 7 microseconds a day. Without correction your position would drift 10 km within a single day.

Why it is called a paradox

Each twin sees the other’s clock as slow. It looks symmetric, yet only one ends up older — because only one underwent acceleration when turning around.

It has been measured

In 1971 atomic clocks were flown around the world aboard airliners. Prediction and observation agreed within the margin of error.

See what happens to time near light speed
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