Salanis wrote:
Not to mention the mechanics of just how you would test it.
The best way I can think of is to find the next time a comet will pass near the Earth. Send up a satellite with a whole slew of accelerometers on it and set it up so that it will be just to the side of the comet's path.
That presumes that a comet is massive and fast moving enough to have a clear effect.
If the comet and satellite are outside the orbit of any planet, there should be less interference.
IIRC, one or more of the Apollo missions did an experiment when the capsule rounded the Moon, looking for differences in the gravitational pull between the Earth and far sides. Real similar to the accelerometer experiment you envision.
I don't recall exactly who did it, but some time back there was a lot of excitement about gravity actually bending light rays. Einstein predicted it would and someone proved it through observations of, IIRC, watching the moon pass in front of certain stars.
It seems odd that something we think of as energy (light) displays some of the properties of matter (altered and/or moved by gravity). It makes you wonder if we really understand the differences between matter and energy. Or if there is even a real difference.
Then there are the Lagrangian points, where the gravitational pull of different bodies are balanced. It's possible to put a satellite there and it will just float in one spot. There are five mapped around Earth and pretty much every planet or other celestial body has them as well.