Question

Suppose that an observer standing on a planet sees a pair of lightning bolts simultaneously strike the front and rear ends of the compartment in a high-speed rocket ship. Will the lightning strikes be simultaneous to an observer in the middle of the compartment in the rocket ship?

Bonus (+5) why or why not?

Answer 1

No, the lightning strikes will not be simultaneous to an observer in the middle of the compartment in the rocket ship. The reason is, the time taken for the information that the lightning has stroke on both side of the high speed space ship is not the same for the observer on the spaceship and the observer on the planet. If The observer on the spaceship records simultaneity this means that in that frame the lightning has striked at the same time but then for the observer on the planet, the lightning will not strike simultaneously as it will take different time for the lightning at far and near end of the ship to reach the observer.
As the observer on planet records simultaneity, observer on the spaceship must agree that the lightning has not striked simultaneously.