{"id":391,"date":"2026-03-26T02:12:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T02:12:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.sciencepicker.com\/?p=391"},"modified":"2026-03-26T02:12:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T02:12:25","slug":"atomic-clocks-explained-nasa-set-to-launch-a-deep-space-timekeeper-monday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.science-pickers.com\/atomic-clocks-explained-nasa-set-to-launch-a-deep-space-timekeeper-monday\/","title":{"rendered":"Atomic clocks explained: NASA set to launch a deep space timekeeper monday"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NASA is ready to launch the latest atomic clock\ninto orbit on a Falcon Heavy tomorrow that could change the way of exploring\nspace by a human.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nlatest atomic clock will make spacecraft navigation to distant objects in space<\/strong> \u2014\non the journey to Mars. Scientist hope that Deep Space Atomic Clock<\/strong> will\nmake spacecraft traveling in deep space to act on their own, there will not\nmuch communication needed with Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\ncould be a great development to how spacecraft currently navigate, NASA<\/strong> said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Astronomers are already using clocks to navigate in space. They send a signal to the spacecraft, which sends it back to Earth. The time it takes to round trip, tells the scientist about spacecraft’s distance from Earth. This is because the signal is traveling at the speed of light. By sending multiple signals over time, scientists can calculate a spacecraft’s trajectory where it was and where it’s going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Source: Pexels<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Watches\non the satellites<\/strong> mostly keep time <\/strong>using a quartz\ncrystal oscillator. These take benefit of the fact that quartz crystals vibrate\nat a specific frequency when voltage is applied to them, NASA<\/strong> said in\nthe statement. The vibrations act like the pendulum in a longcase clock. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nmight not be shocking to learn the atomic clocks that take advantage of the\nstructure of atoms, which are made of a kernel of protons and neutrons\nsurrounded by electrons. Each element of an atom has a distinct structure, with\na diverse number of protons in the nucleus. While the number of electrons can\nvary, the electrons occupy distinct energy levels, and the right amount of\nenergy can make an electron to jump to a higher energy level around the\nnucleus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nenergy needed to make an electron do this jump is different to each element and\nconstant with all atoms of that element. This is the reason atomic clocks can\nreach a production level beyond mechanical clocks.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nis not the single reason that makes the Deep Space Atomic Clock<\/strong> special.\nThis clock doesn’t just use mercury atoms but it also uses charged mercury\nions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ions\nare atoms that have an electric charge because of which they can be carried in\nan electromagnetic “trap.” This holds the atoms from associating with\nthe walls of a vacuum chamber. When they interact with the vacuum walls,\nenvironmental changes appear such as temperature which causes changes in the atoms\nthemselves and leads to frequency errors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Deep\nSpace Atomic Clock<\/strong> won’t be directed to such environmental variations,\naccording to NASA<\/strong>, and so will be 50 times more stable than the clocks\nused on GPS satellites. After the launch of the clock, scientists will be able\nto start testing the clock’s accuracy as it spends days, then months in orbit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NASA is ready to launch the latest atomic clock into orbit on a Falcon Heavy tomorrow that could change the way of exploring space by a human. This latest atomic clock will make spacecraft navigation to distant objects in space \u2014 on the journey to Mars. Scientist hope that Deep Space Atomic Clock will make spacecraft traveling in deep […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":796,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-space-and-astronomy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.science-pickers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.science-pickers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.science-pickers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.science-pickers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.science-pickers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=391"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.science-pickers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":797,"href":"https:\/\/www.science-pickers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391\/revisions\/797"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.science-pickers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.science-pickers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.science-pickers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.science-pickers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}