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

[Bill Byrom]

Yeah -- delays happen. The DSAC is part of the US Air Force STP-2 program. STP-2 launch was awarded to SpaceX in December, 2012. But the Falcon Heavy only completed it's first launch earlier this week, and instead of sending a customer payload they send a Tesla to past the orbit of Mars. 

Correcting my earlier post, the new launch date for STP-2 appears to be "no earlier than" June, 2018. I'm relying on this source for launch estimates:
https://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/
--
Bill Byrom N5BB

On Fri, Feb 9, 2018, at 7:54 AM, jimlux wrote:
> 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
> >>
> >>
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