NASA’s Deep Space Atomic Clock is flying on the Orbital Test Bed satellite, which launched on the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with around two dozen other satellites.
The Deep Space Atomic Clock will change the way we navigate spacecraft and even how we send astronauts to Mars and beyond. The Deep Space Atomic Clock will help spacecraft navigate autonomously through deep space. No larger than a toaster oven, the instrument will be tested in Earth orbit for one year, with the goal of being ready for future missions to other worlds.
The Deep Space Atomic Clock is a serious upgrade to the satellite-based atomic clocks that, for example, enable the GPS on your phone.
Up to 50 times more stable than the atomic clocks on GPS satellites, NASA’s Deep Space Atomic Clock is intended to be the most stable atomic clock ever flown in space. It achieves this stability by using mercury ions.
For missions going to distant destinations like Mars or other planets, such precision makes autonomous navigation possible with minimal communication to and from Earth – a huge improvement in how spacecraft are currently navigated.
