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A small step for the man … a giant step for the clocks.
The atomic clock in space, a new technology from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will be launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in Earth orbit for a year at the end of June, according to the latest JPL release. published by Xinhua.
The clock, a device the size of a toaster accurate to ten millionth of a second in the space of a year, is the first instrument similar to a GPS, small enough and stable to fly on a spacecraft, the report said.
Currently, browsers tell a spacecraft to go by calculating its position from the Earth and sending location data to space in a two-way relay system that can last from minutes to hours to give directions.
Weighing only 16 kilograms, this new technology allows a spacecraft to know where it is without relying on Earth data, according to JPL. In other words, it will change the way humans navigate the solar system.
After deploying the clock in Earth's orbit, engineers will check to see if it can help spacecraft find their way into space.
If the clock year in space runs smoothly, the clock could pave the way for a one-way navigation future in which astronauts would be guided by a GPS-like system on the surface of the Moon or could safely perform their own missions to Mars and beyond, said JPL.
"Each spacecraft exploring deep space is led by navigators on Earth. The atomic clock in deep space will change that by allowing autonomous navigation on board, or an autonomous spacecraft, "said Jill Seubert, the mission's Senior Deputy Investigator.
Atomic clocks are the most accurate chronometers in the world, using the rhythmic characteristics of atoms in the same way that a grandfather clock uses a pendulum. Since 1967, the official definition of a second is 9 192 631 770 cycles of radiation from an atomic element cesium.
According to Phys.Org, the DSAC has been found to be up to 50 times more stable than the atomic clocks of GPS satellites during ground testing. If the mission can prove this stability in space, it will be one of the most accurate clocks in the universe.
"If we get to Mars, the crew members will want to know where they are and they will have to find out – potentially in real time – they have to make trajectory adjustments at the last minute," Todd said. Ely, a space navigator and leader of the DSAC experiment, told Business Insider.
"If we are able to replicate what we saw in the field during our tests, once DSAC is in space, it should be the most stable atomic clock in the world. space."
The launch of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket is scheduled for June 22 at 23:30. EDT, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, will be broadcast live on www.nasa.gov/live.
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