[time-nuts] True Time Nut Mission: NASA's Deep Space Atomic Clock (DSAC)

[jimlux]

On 2/8/18 8:55 PM, Bill Byrom wrote:
> After the successful Falcon Heavy launch earlier this week, it appears that the Deep Space Atomic Clock (DSAC) is now scheduled to go up in June 2018 on a Falcon Heavy carrying the US Air Force STP-2 test payloads.
> https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/nasa-tests-atomic-clock-for-deep-space-navigation
> 
> For a fun video about this project suitable for non-time-nuts, see:
> https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/tdm/clock/sammy-the-second.html
> 

"The Deep Space Atomic Clock is being readied for flight next year. 
Moving hardware from the laboratory to space meant conquering a number 
of technological challenges."

A number of really hard technological challenges. Aside from taking a 
bench full of gear and squeezing it down to a few liters.

Note the date on an earlier note:
"DSAC is scheduled for launch in mid-2016"




>> Date: Tue, 12 Jan 2016 17:31:26 -0600
>>
>> Upcoming Event: Deep Space Atomic Clock
>> Jan. 14, 2016, at 7 p.m. PT (10 p.m. ET, 0300 UTC)
>> You can watch this event via USTREAM:  http://www.ustream.tv/NASAJPL2
>>
>> Speakers:
>> Todd Ely, DSAC Principal Investigator, JPL
>> Allen H. Farrington, DSAC Project Manager, JPL
>> http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/tdm/clock/clock_overview.html#.VpWMgK9OKK0
>> Atomic clocks are an integral, yet almost invisible component of modern
>> life.
>> For space exploration, they have been the foundational frequency
>> standard for NASA's Deep Space Network. NASA's Deep Space Atomic Clock
>> (DSAC) Technology Demonstration Mission, led by the Jet Propulsion
>> Laboratory, has been maturing the latest Atomic Clock technologies into
>> a smaller package, suitable for installation on a variety of deep space
>> probes to enhance navigation precision and gravity science across the
>> solar system.
>> ============
>> DSAC is scheduled for launch in mid-2016.
>> Satellite being built by Surrey Satellite Technologies USA, Englewood,
>> CO
>>
>>