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NASA’s Deep Space Atomic Clock Is a Huge Leap for Spacecraft Positioning Systems

As it seeks to greatly expand the scope of its exploration efforts, NASA is on a lookout for new technologies that could make space travel faster, safer, and even more accurate. Such technology is the Deep Space Atomic Clock (DSAC), a piece of hardware that will fly to orbit on June 22 aboard the SpaceX Falcon Heavy.
Falcon Heavy to Launch NASA’s Spacecraft-Guiding Atomic Clock 1 photo
Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The clock is, in fact, more of a GPS, or at least it works like one. Currently, human spacecraft don’t come equipped with positioning hardware, meaning their location is determined by using Earth-based antennas. The greater the distance between the spacecraft and Earth, the longer it takes for possibly crucial instructions to be sent and received.

The Atomic Clock will be fitted on future spacecraft and will greatly improve the process by determining its position with the same accuracy as GPS systems presently do for smartphones. This, says NASA, would allow space travelers to determine their position “immediately using an onboard navigation system.”

Work on the project began 20 years ago, and the DSAC to be sent up in a few weeks is a miniaturized version of the hardware that will eventually be fitted onboard an unnamed spacecraft.

The size of a toaster oven, DSAC will spend one year in Earth orbit mounted on a test platform. NASA doesn’t say what will happen to it afterward.

The Falcon Heavy rocket that will carry it to orbit is at its third flight. The first was the historical one that took place in February 2018 and saw Elon Musk send a car into space on behalf of humanity for the first – and last -time. The second took place in April this year, and was meant to place the Arabsat 6A satellite into orbit.

Aside for the DSAC, the June 22 launch will also transport a cluster of military and scientific research satellites for the U.S. Air Force.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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