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No, the phenomenon you described is actually an example of time dilation, not time contraction. According to the theory of special relativity, when an object is moving relative to an observer, time appears to run slower for that object as its velocity approaches the speed of light.

If a spaceship were to approach Earth at a significant fraction of the speed of light, observers on Earth would perceive time on board the spaceship as running slower relative to their own time. This means that, from the perspective of Earth, less time would have passed on the spaceship compared to the time that has passed on Earth.

This phenomenon of time dilation has been experimentally confirmed and is a fundamental aspect of Einstein's theory of special relativity. It arises due to the constancy of the speed of light in all inertial reference frames. As an object's velocity increases, its relative experience of time slows down as observed by other relatively stationary observers.

So, the correct term to describe this effect is time dilation, not time contraction. Time dilation refers to the slowing down of time for objects moving at high velocities relative to an observer, as predicted by special relativity.

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