<blockquote id="quote"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Your comparisons are not being made across space at a common time, but across space and time<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Not relevant! Respect to the spaceships or rockets Lets attach two equal rods between them, front and back before they even take off. This ensures they are parallel to each other. Since the antenna idea wasn't welcome, we will install two lasers (with zero divergence beams) and a pair of sensors in each rocket to detect each laser beam. Again, the lasers and sensors will be orthogonal to the axis of either rocket. At T0 they will be orthogonal to the direction of travel. Also before they even move, lets synchronize the clocks as we usually do here on earth. Then lets wait a long time to ensure sync. Then we can sloowly start moving be applying a small constant force. Notice that for other than an infinitesimal error, we are talking about Newtonian mechanics and Euclidean geometry. So as far as we are concern we do have orthogonal axes (90 deg. angles) and simultaneity, that is, the clocks are keeping time at the same rate. Neither of these is important in this test anyway.
As the rocket gains speed, there can only be two outcomes: the laser beams keep hitting their targets or they do not. There is no need to make this anymore complicated. Frames of reference, time dilation... they make people sound profound but they are irrelevant in this case.
If the beams never miss their targets, the effect is the same as when having zero velocity and I see no reason to use some complicated equations when simple ones will do. But this means that the momentum of the sources (the ships in motion) was somehow transferred to the light beams, whether by coordinate bending, time dilation or however way we may want to define it. According to Einstein's elevator example, they eventually should start missing their target because of accelerated motion (apparent bending of light). BTW, when I initially posed this question I wasn't sure of the outcome. Now I'm inclined to believe that the beams will eventually start missing their targets. So there you have it: an accelerometer up to light speeds!
If you don't like the rocket idea, use Einstein's elevator instead. Just install the electronics in similar fashion. We will stand inside it observing this event. I wish I had though of his elevator before I used the rocket example.
guarionex
