Imagine a beam of light entering a window on the left side of the spaceship. But hidden in that scenario is a surprising insight. This equivalence between gravity (as experienced on Earth) and acceleration (as experienced in the rocket) propelled (pun intended) Einstein forward to develop his theory. Objects will fall to the ground at the same speed as on Earth your feet will stay firmly planted on the floor, etc. If you're isolated on a rocket ship that accelerates at a smooth and constant 1g - providing the same acceleration as Earth's gravity does - everything in your laboratory will behave exactly as it would on the planet's surface, Einstein reasoned. Before Einstein put the finishing touches on the big GR, he came to some startling realizations about the nature of gravity.
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