STP-02: DSX + попутчики - Falcon Heavy - Kennedy LC-39A - 25.06.2019, 06:30 UTC

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AF SMC‏ @AF_SMC 17:13 PDT - 29 мая 2019 г.

NPSat-1 has made its entrance at SpaceX's Payload Processing Facility! If you want to know more about NPSat-1 and the other 23 satellites on the STP-2 mission visit : http://spacex.com/stp-2  #STP2 @AF_SMC #SpaceStartsHere

STP-2 Mission

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https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/media-briefing-highlights-nasa-tech-on-next-spacex-falcon-heavy-launch

June 3, 2019
MEDIA ADVISORY M19-048

Media Briefing Highlights NASA Tech on Next SpaceX Falcon Heavy Launch


SpaceX successfully tested its Falcon Heavy rocket Feb. 6, 2018, with a launch at 3:45 p.m. EST from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Credits: SpaceX

NASA is sending four technology missions that will help improve future spacecraft design and performance into space on the next SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launch. Experts will discuss these technologies, and how they complement NASA's Moon to Mars exploration plans, during a media teleconference Monday, June 10 at 1 p.m. EDT.

Audio of the teleconference will be streamed live online at: 

https://www.nasa.gov/live

Participants in the briefing will be:

[/li]
• Jim Reuter, acting associate administrator of NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate, will discuss how technology drives exploration to the Moon and beyond.
• Todd Ely, principal investigator for the Deep Space Atomic Clock at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will discuss how to advance exploration in deep space with a miniaturized, ultra-precise, mercury-ion atomic clock that is orders of magnitude more stable than today's best navigation clocks.
• Don Cornwell, director of the Advanced Communications and Navigation Division of NASA's Space Communications and Navigation program, will discuss how a more stable, space-based atomic clock could benefit future missions to the Moon and Mars.
• Christopher McLean, principal investigator for NASA's Green Propellant Infusion Mission (GPIM) at Ball Aerospace, will discuss the demonstration of a green alternative to conventional chemical propulsion systems for next-generation launch vehicles and spacecraft.
• Joe Cassady, executive director for space at Aerojet Rocketdyne, will discuss the five thrusters and propulsion system aboard GPIM.
• Nicola Fox, director of the Heliophysics Division of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, will discuss Space Environment Testbeds and the importance of protecting satellites from space radiation.
• Richard Doe, payload program manager for the Enhanced Tandem Beacon Experiment at SRI International, will discuss how a pair of NASA CubeSats will work with six satellites of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) COSMIC-2 mission to study disruptions of signals that pass through Earth's upper atmosphere.
  

...
NASA's four missions will share a ride on the Falcon Heavy with about 20 satellites from government and research institutions that make up the Department of Defense's Space Test Program-2 (STP-2) mission. SpaceX and the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, which manages STP-2, are targeting 11:30 p.m. Saturday, June 22, for launch from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Charged with returning astronauts to the Moon within five years, NASA's Artemis lunar exploration plans are based on a two-phase approach: the first is focused on speed – landing astronauts on the Moon by 2024 – while the second will establish a sustained human presence on and around the Moon by 2028. We will use what we learn on the Moon to prepare to send astronauts to Mars. The technology missions on this launch will advance a variety of future exploration missions.

-end-

Last Updated: June 3, 2019
Editor: Karen Northon

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https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/five-things-to-know-about-nasas-deep-space-atomic-clock

June 4, 2019

Five Things to Know about NASA's Deep Space Atomic Clock


An animated image of the Deep Space Atomic Clock, a new technology being tested by NASA that will change the way humans navigate the solar system. The precise timekeeper is targeted to launch fr om Florida on June 22, 2019, aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA is sending a new technology to space on June 22 that will change the way we navigate our spacecraft — even how we send astronauts to Mars and beyond. Built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, the Deep Space Atomic Clock is a technology demonstration that 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.


Technicians integrate NASA's Deep Space Atomic Clock into the Orbital Test Bed Earth-orbiting satellite, which will launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, on June 22, 2019.
Credits: General Atomics

Here are five key facts to know about NASA's Deep Space Atomic Clock:

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It works a lot like GPS

The Deep Space Atomic Clock is a sibling of the atomic clocks you interact with every day on your smart phone. Atomic clocks aboard satellites enable your phone's GPS application to get you fr om point A to point B by calculating where you are on Earth, based on the time it takes the signal to travel fr om the satellite to your phone.

But spacecraft don't have GPS to help them find their way in deep space; instead, navigation teams rely on atomic clocks on Earth to determine location data. The farther we travel from Earth, the longer this communication takes. The Deep Space Atomic Clock is the first atomic clock designed to fly onboard a spacecraft that goes beyond Earth's orbit, dramatically improving the process.  

It will help our spacecraft navigate autonomously

Today, we navigate in deep space by using giant antennas on Earth to send signals to spacecraft, which then send those signals back to Earth. Atomic clocks on Earth measure the time it takes a signal to make this two-way journey. Only then can human navigators on Earth use large antennas to tell the spacecraft wh ere it is and wh ere to go.

If we want humans to explore the solar system, we need a better, faster way for the astronauts aboard a spacecraft to know wh ere they are, ideally without needing to send signals back to Earth. A Deep Space Atomic Clock on a spacecraft would allow it to receive a signal from Earth and determine its location immediately using an onboard navigation system.

It loses only 1 second in 9 million years

Any atomic clock has to be incredibly precise to be used for this kind of navigation: A clock that is off by even a single second could mean the difference between landing on Mars and missing it by miles. In ground tests, the Deep Space Atomic Clock proved to be up to 50 times more stable than the atomic clocks on GPS satellites. If the mission can prove this stability in space, it will be one of the most precise clocks in the universe.

It keeps accurate time using mercury ions

Your wristwatch and atomic clocks keep time in similar ways: by measuring the vibrations of a quartz crystal. An electrical pulse is sent through the quartz so that it vibrates steadily. This continuous vibration acts like the pendulum of a grandfather clock, ticking off how much time has passed. But a wristwatch can easily drift off track by seconds to minutes over a given period.

An atomic clock uses atoms to help maintain high precision in its measurements of the quartz vibrations. The length of a second is measured by the frequency of light released by specific atoms, which is same throughout the universe. But atoms in current clocks can be sensitive to external magnetic fields and temperature changes. The Deep Space Atomic Clock uses mercury ions — fewer than the amount typically found in two cans of tuna fish — that are contained in electromagnetic traps. Using an internal device to control the ions makes them less vulnerable to external forces.

It will launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket

The Deep Space Atomic Clock will fly on the Orbital Test Bed satellite, which launches on the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with around two dozen other satellites from government, military and research institutions. The launch is targeted for June 22, 2019, at 8:30 p.m. PDT (11:30 p.m. EDT) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and will be live-streamed here:

https://www.nasa.gov/live

The Deep Space Atomic Clock is hosted on a spacecraft provided by General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems of Englewood, Colorado. It is sponsored by the Technology Demonstration Missions program within NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate and the Space Communications and Navigations program within NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. The project is managed by JPL.

Arielle Samuelson
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-0307
arielle.a.samuelson@jpl.nasa.gov

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Last Updated: June 4, 2019
Editor: Tony Greicius

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AF SMC‏ @AF_SMC 5 июн.

SpaceX's Falcon Heavy center core, powering SMC's STP-2 mission, arrived near Launch Complex-39A in Florida over the weekend! This hardware will return to SpaceX's Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship, "Of Course I Still Love You" in the Atlantic. Visit: http://www.spacex.com/stp-2 

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Stephen Clark‏ @StephenClark1 2 ч. назад

USAF Lt. Col. Ryan Rose: Currently looking at no earlier than June 24 for Falcon Heavy launch with the STP-2 rideshare mission.

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https://tass.ru/kosmos/6527772

8 ИЮН, 03:00
СМИ: запуск сверхтяжелой ракеты-носителя Falcon Heavy ожидается не ранее 24 июня

Завершается сборка носителя, ведется подготовка к пуску, отмечает портал Space.com

НЬЮ-ЙОРК, 8 июня. /ТАСС/. Запуск сверхтяжелой ракеты-носителя Falcon Heavy, разработанной корпорацией SpaceX, состоится не ранее 24 июня. Об этом сообщил в пятницу портал Space.com со ссылкой на представителя космического центра ВВС США на авиабазе Киртлэнд (штат Нью-Мексико) Райана Роуза.

"Мы завершаем сборку носителя, проводим подготовку к запуску, - заявила она в ходе состоявшейся в пятницу телеконференции. - На данный момент мы ожидаем, что работы будут завершены не ранее 24 июня".

Запуск ракеты-носителя, получивший обозначение STP-2, планировалось осуществить 22 июня с площадки 39А на космодроме на мысе Канаверал. Ракета должна вывести на орбиту спутники для изучения условий распространения радиосигналов в атмосфере, аппарат для оценки возможностей использования "солнечного паруса" для движения в космосе, а также созданные специалистами NASA атомные часы с погрешностью хода в 1 секунду за 9 млн лет.

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Falcon Heavy - двухступенчатая ракета-носитель сверхтяжелого класса, ее отдельные блоки пригодны для многоразового использования. Первоначально она разрабатывалась для запуска пилотируемого корабля Crew Dragon, а также для миссий на Луну и Марс. Однако после первого запуска Falcon Heavy глава корпорации SpaceX Илон Маск объявил, что она будет использоваться только для доставки на орбиту тяжелых спутников.

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Emre Kelly‏Подлинная учетная запись @EmreKelly 11 ч. назад

Air Force: #SpaceX STP-2 will be SMC's first-ever mission that includes four second-stage burns. First mission for USAF that includes previously flown hardware, too.


Ken Kremer‏ @ken_kremer 10 ч. назад

The @usairforce just confirmed 2 day launch delay for @SpaceX #FalconHeavy to NET Jun 24 from Jun 22 for #STP2 mission. More time needed to integrate the 24 satellites.Window still opens 1130 PM for 1st night launch of 3core FH. All 3 boosters to be recovered including 2 by land

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Эмблема миссии (AF SMC)

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https://spaceflightnow.com/2019/06/07/first-falcon-heavy-night-launch-slips-to-june-24/

First Falcon Heavy night launch slips to June 24
June 7, 2019 | Stephen Clark


File photo of a Falcon Heavy rocket rolling out to pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: SpaceX

The first nighttime launch of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket, and the first Falcon Heavy flight for the U.S. military, is set for no earlier than June 24 from pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Air Force officials said Friday.

The four-hour launch window opens at 11:30 p.m. EDT on June 24 (0330 GMT on June 25). The new target launch date is two days later than previously planned.

The Falcon Heavy will launch 24 satellites into three distinct orbits around Earth, using up most of the heavy-lift rocket's lift capacity with a series of four upper stage engine burns, the most ever by a SpaceX launch vehicle.

"We are now looking at no earlier than June 24 while we finish up integrating these satellites and finish our launch operation preparations," said Lt. Col. Ryan Rose, chief of the small launch and targets division at the Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center, or SMC.

The 24 satellites come from the U.S. military, NOAA, NASA, and academic institutions, pursuing missions ranging from weather observation to technology demonstration. The mission is designated Space Test Program-2, or STP-2, and is managed by the U.S. Air Force.

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The center core for SpaceX's third Falcon Heavy launch arrives at the company's hangar at pad 39A in Florida. Credit: U.S. Air Force

The Falcon Heavy rocket set to fly on the STP-2 mission will use two side boosters recovered after the most recent Falcon Heavy flight April 11, which delivered the commercial Arabsat 6A communications satellite to orbit. The center core booster for the STP-2 mission is fresh from SpaceX's factory in Hawthorne, California.

Each booster is powered by nine Merlin 1D engines, burning a mix of kerosene and liquid oxygen propellants.

The Air Force agreed to use the side boosters from the Arabsat 6A mission to familiarize military officials with SpaceX's process of recovering and refurbishing rocket hardware. It is the first time the Air Force has used previously-flown hardware on a military satellite launch.

"STP-2 is the government's first launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy vehicle, and is one of the most challenging missions the Space and Missile Systems Center has ever launched," said Col. Robert Bongiovi, director of SMC's launch enterprise systems directorate. "We're putting 24 research and development satellites into three separate orbits, with a first-ever four engine start and burn of the second stage."

The Air Force contracted with SpaceX for the STP-2 mission in 2012, targeting a launch in 2015. Delays in the development of the Falcon Heavy pushed the mission's schedule back to 2019.

Military officials originally intended for the STP-2 mission to be a test flight for the Falcon Heavy, and an opportunity to place a batch of experimental — and relatively low-cost and low-priority — payloads into orbit on a new rocket. But now the mission has evolved to become a critical test to move the Air Force closer to allowing more expensive national security satellites to launch on the Falcon Heavy, and potentially with reused booster stages.

SpaceX has launched 21 missions with previously-flown booster stages — all successfully — with payloads for NASA and commercial customers.

"The use of the previously-flown hardware is providing critical insight into reusability and quality assurance that will allow us to provide space access to the warfighter in a more cost-effective and expedient manner, and I really appreciate the efforts of our industry partner SpaceX to make this happen," Bongiovi said Friday in a briefing with reporters.

The first two Falcon Heavy missions lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in daylight, but the STP-2 mission will launch at night. Like the previous two Falcon Heavy flights, the two side boosters will return to SpaceX's onshore landing site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station for nearly simultaneous propulsive landings, according to Walter Lauderdale, STP-2 mission director from the Falcon systems and operations division at SMC.

"The plan is to recover all three cores, two coming back to land and one out on the drone ship," Lauderdale said Friday. "SpaceX is looking for this opportunity to demonstrate this capability (for) continued reuse. We're excited to be part of that journey."

A regulatory filing associated with the STP-2 mission submitted by SpaceX to the Federal Communications Commission in March suggested the company's drone ship, used for offshore rocket landings, will be stationed near Florida's Space Coast for the recovery of the Falcon Heavy's center core.


A mission patch for the STP-2 mission. Credit: U.S. Air Force

The drone ship is typically positioned hundreds of miles offshore from Florida. The regulatory filing, which requested authority to operate radio transmitters during the booster's descent, indicated the vessel will be parked roughly 24 miles (40 kilometers) east-southeast of pad 39A for the center core landing on the STP-2 mission.

Assuming favorable viewing conditions, the nighttime launch of the world's most powerful rocket — producing 5.1 million pounds of thrust at full throttle — followed minutes later by the return of the three Falcon Heavy boosters to Earth could be a dazzling spectacle.

"As long as there are no clouds, having been down there for a couple, the recoveries back on land, they do end up being a spectacular sight coming back to the landing zone," Lauderdale said.

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https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacex/2019/06/10/spacex-and-dod-targeting-june-24-for-falcon-heavy-launch/

SpaceX and DoD Targeting June 24 for Falcon Heavy Launch

Sarah Loff
Posted Jun 10, 2019 at 11:41 am

SpaceX and the Department of Defense are targeting no earlier than Monday, June 24 at 11:30 p.m. EDT to launch the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center's Space Test Program-2 (STP-2) mission. A Falcon Heavy rocket will lift off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida with about two dozen satellites aboard, including four NASA missions. The NASA technology demonstrations and science missions will help improve future spacecraft design and performance.


SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket on the launchpad ahead of its Dec. 2017 demo mission. Credit: SpaceX

Learn more about the exciting NASA space tech launching on the Falcon Heavy later this month:

[/li]
• Deep Space Atomic Clock – a navigation payload hosted on General Atomics Orbital Test Bed satellite
• Green Propellant Infusion Mission – a small satellite that will demonstrate a non-toxic fuel and propulsion system
• Space Environment Testbeds – instruments hosted on the Air Force Research Lab's Demonstration and Science Experiments spacecraftto study how to protect satellites in space
• Enhanced Tandem Beacon Experiment – twin CubeSats to study disruptions of signals that pass-through Earth's upper atmosphere
  

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Getting SET - The Mission to Protect Satellites from Radiation

NASA Goddard

Опубликовано: 10 июн. 2019 г.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EprSQsQ4K98https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EprSQsQ4K98 (2:53)

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https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/set-mission-overview

SET Mission Overview

Space Environment Testbeds, or SET, studies how to protect satellites in space. The mission characterizes the harsh space environment near Earth and how it affects spacecraft and their instruments. This information can be used to improve spacecraft design, engineering, and operations in order to protect spacecraft from harmful radiation driven by the Sun.

Energetic particles in space can cause computer upsets onboard spacecraft, and also contribute to hardware degradation over time. SET is equipped with a space weather monitor and three experiments to characterize these effects and define their mechanisms. Ultimately, SET aims to understand these effects in order to reduce future spacecraft anomalies and failures.


SET is one of three experiments onboard the DSX spacecraft. In this animated image, DSX, at right, separates from the launch vehicle.
Credits: SpaceX

SET is part of the Space Environment Effects (SFx) experiment, one of three experiments on board the Demonstration and Science Experiments, or DSX, spacecraft  being launched by the U.S. Air Force. SET will fly through medium Earth orbit, a region of space some 1,200 to 22,000 miles above sea level. There lies the gap between Earth's two doughnut-shaped belts of intense radiation, known as the Van Allen belts. This relatively unexplored region, also called the slot region, is thought to have less radiation than other parts of near-Earth space — although it is variable — and holds promise as a home for navigation and communication satellites.

The main sources of energetic particles with which spacecraft designers are concerned are protons and electrons trapped in the Van Allen belts; galactic cosmic ray protons and heavy ions; and protons and heavy ions energized by solar eruptions, such as solar flares or coronal mass ejections.
The SET mission is part of NASA's Living with a Star program, which explores aspects of the Sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society. The Living with a Star flight program is managed by the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.


On Thursday, April 11, 2019, a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launched the Arabsat-6A satellite from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The STP-2 mission plans to reuse the two side boosters recovered after the April 11 launch.
Credits: SpaceX

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https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/nasa-s-set-mission-to-study-satellite-protection-is-ready-for-launch

June 10, 2019

NASA's SET Mission to Study Satellite Protection Is Ready for Launch

Ready, SET, go — NASA's Space Environment Testbeds, or SET, will launch in June 2019 on its mission to study how to better protect satellites in space. SET will get a ride to space on a U.S. Air Force Research Lab spacecraft aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket fr om NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

SET studies the very nature of space itself — which isn't completely empty, but brimming with radiation — and how it affects spacecraft and electronics in orbit. Energetic particles from the Sun or deep space can spark memory damage or computer upsets on spacecraft, and over time, degrade hardware. SET seeks to better understand these effects in order to improve spacecraft design, engineering, and operations, and avoid future anomalies. Spacecraft protection is a key part of NASA's mission as the agency's Artemis program seeks to explore the Moon and beyond.  

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"Since space radiation is one of the primary hazards space missions encounter, researching ways to improve their abilities to survive in these harsh environments will increase the survivability of near-Earth missions as well as missions to the Moon and Mars," said Reggie Eason, SET project manager at NASA Headquarters in Washington. 

SET aims its sights on a part of near-Earth space called the slot region: the gap between two of Earth's vast radiation belts, also known as the Van Allen belts. The doughnut-shaped Van Allen belts seethe with radiation trapped by Earth's magnetic field. Wh ere SET orbits is thought to be calmer, but known to vary during extreme space weather storms driven by the Sun. How much it changes exactly, and how quickly, remains uncertain.

"There haven't been too many measurements to tell us how bad things get in the slot region," said Michael Xapsos. Xapsos is one of two members on the SET Project Scientist Team alongside astrophysicist Yihua Zheng at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "That's why we're going there. Before we put satellites there, you have to be aware of how variable the environment is," Xapsos said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EprSQsQ4K98
SET studies the very nature of space itself — which isn't completely empty, but brimming with radiation — and how it affects spacecraft and electronics in orbit.
Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Genna Duberstein
Download this video in HD formats from NASA Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio

The slot region is an attractive one for satellites — especially navigation and communications satellites — because from about 12,000 miles up, it offers not only a relatively friendly radiation environment, but also a wide view of Earth. During intense magnetic storms, however, energetic particles from the outer belt can surge into the slot region.  

SET will survey the slot region, providing some of the first day-to-day weather measurements of this particular neighborhood in near-Earth space. The mission also studies the fine details of how radiation damages instruments and tests different methods to protect them, helping engineers build parts better suited for spaceflight.

"Electronic devices these days are so small, complicated and fast," Xapsos said. The smaller a device is, the more vulnerable it is to radiation damage, and the more challenging it is to predict its performance in space. "SET will allow us to better understand what happens when an ion hits a device, and to improve models for how often these upsets occur." 

There are two kinds of radiation damage that SET studies. The first are known as single event effects — that is, what happens when a high-energy ion accelerated by a solar eruption or from a galactic cosmic ray pierces electronics. These strikes happen at random, one particle at a time, and load a circuit with extra electric charge. The result can be a data flip — in binary code, for example, flipping a 0 to a 1 — that affects stored memory or the programs that run spacecraft. Many spacecraft are equipped to recover from these snags, but at worst, they can cause system crashes and catastrophic damage.

But these dramatic blows aren't the only concern — milder radiation over time degrades circuits too. Charged particles trapped in the radiation belts weather electronics, gradually reducing their performance the longer they're in orbit.


Earth's radiation belts are filled with energetic particles trapped by Earth's magnetic field that can wreak havoc with electronics we send to space.
Credits: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio/Tom Bridgman

SET is equipped with a space weather monitor and three circuit board experiments — each no larger than a postcard — to study both types of damage.

CREDANCE — short for the Cosmic Radiation Environment Dosimetry and Charging Experiment — is SET's space weather monitor, built to survey cosmic rays and particles in the radiation belts. These are the high-energy fragments of atoms that can pierce the walls of spacecraft, damaging electronics.

Two circuit board experiments also study single event effects. COTS-2 — standing for Commercial Off the Shelf — collects information on the frequency of single event effects and how to mitigate them, especially in specialized computer chips. DIME — short for the Dosimetry Intercomparison and Miniaturization Experiment — consists of two separate boards that together demonstrate six different ways to measure space radiation using affordable, commercially available parts. The experiment can help future missions decide the best way to monitor radiation for their spacecraft.

Another circuit board experiment focuses on total radiation dose. ELDRS — short for Enhanced Low Dose Rate Sensitivity — is named for the mystery it studies: the ELDRS effect. This is what engineers call the intensified damage that certain types of electronics face when exposed to mild radiation over time — as opposed to the lesser damage experienced if exposed to the same total dose all at once. Information from this experiment will help improve test methods on Earth to make electronics space-ready.

Together, the SET experiments will expand our understanding of the near-Earth space environment and how its radiation impacts instruments. "SET data will directly go into improving our models so we can better evaluate the radiation environment future missions will encounter," said Goddard aerospace engineer Megan Casey. Models are a key component in selecting and testing any electronics destined for spaceflight.

SET is part of the Space Environment Effects (SFx) experiment, one of three experiments on board the Demonstration and Science Experiments, or DSX, spacecraft being launched by the U.S. Air Force.

DSX is launching as part of the Space Test Program-2 (STP-2) mission, managed by the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC). SET is one of four NASA missions on this STP-2 launch — all of which are dedicated to improving technology in space. DSX separates from the launch vehicle approximately 3.5 hours after launch. 

SET is the latest addition to NASA's fleet of heliophysics observatories. NASA heliophysics missions study a vast interconnected system from the Sun to the space surrounding Earth and other planets, and to the farthest limits of the Sun's constantly flowing stream of solar wind. SET's observations provide key information on the Sun's effects on our spacecraft, enabling further exploration of space.

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SET is part of NASA's Living with a Star program, which explores aspects of the Sun-Earth system that directly affect human life and society. The Living with a Star flight program is managed by Goddard.

NASA launch coverage begins approximately 25 minutes before launch. Follow launch coverage on NASA Television at:

https://www.nasa.gov/live

Banner image: SET is an experiment aboard the DSX spacecraft. In this animated image, it is a slender rectangular box, positioned on the far right of DSX's surface. Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/CIL

By Lina Tran
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

Last Updated: June 10, 2019
Editor: Lina Tran

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https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/e-tbex-enhanced-tandem-beacon-experiment

E-TBEx: Enhanced Tandem Beacon Experiment


Many critical signals for communications and navigation pass through the ionosphere (illustrated here).
Credits: NASA Goddard/Krystofer Kim

NASA's Enhanced Tandem Beacon Experiment, or E-TBEx, mission explores bubbles in the electrically-charged layers of Earth's upper atmosphere, which can disrupt key communications and GPS signals that we rely on down on the ground. Such bubbles currently appear and evolve unpredictably and are difficult to characterize from the ground. But the more we understand them, the more we can mitigate their disruption of the myriad of radio signals that pass through Earth's upper atmosphere.
 

The E-TBEx CubeSats were designed, integrated and tested at the Michigan Exploration Lab at the University of Michigan.
Credits: University of Michigan/Michigan Exploration Lab

To study these bubbles, two CubeSats emit signals in a handful of frequencies to receiving stations on the ground. From there, scientists can measure disruptions in the signals to determine how they're affected by these upper-atmosphere bubbles.

The two primary CubeSats of the E-TBEx mission also work in concert with the six satellites of NOAA's COSMIC-2 mission. The COSMIC-2 satellites carry beacons similar to those on the CubeSats, so changing orbital conjunctions among the eight spacecraft give scientists the chance to study these bubbles from multiple angles at once.

Science

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E-TBEx's main science goal is to study the formation of bubbles in Earth's electrically-charged upper atmosphere, called the ionosphere.

Because they're above the ultraviolet radiation-blocking ozone layer, the particles of the ionosphere have been cooked into an electrically-charged soup — called plasma — by the Sun's powerful radiation. Plasma behaves differently than the gas we're familiar with here near Earth's surface: It responds to electric and magnetic fields in entirely different ways.

Factors from near Earth's surface, like weather, and changing conditions in space called space weather can influence the winds and the electric and magnetic fields to push around the gases in the ionosphere — making it hard to predict what its state will be at any given time. In particular, structured, less-dense bubbles of plasma form within pockets of denser plasma near Earth's magnetic equator, then shift and dissipate, influenced by a poorly understood mix of these factors. 

That unpredictability can create problems, because the ionosphere is a crucial region for space activity and technology crucial our society. This region is home to the International Space Station and many other low-Earth orbiting satellites, and it's also the channel through which many of our communications and navigations signals — like radio and GPS — pass.

Many of these signals are radio waves: They are types of light, but in a range that our eyes can't see. But when the signals pass through structured bubbles plasma in the ionosphere, they can be muddled. Information is embedded into signals by precisely-controlled changes in their frequency, amplitude or phase: A signal's frequency is the number of wave peaks and valleys that pass by per second — radio waves can have anywhere from 3,000 to 300 billion waves per second; the amplitude is the strength of the signal; the phase refers to the relative position of wave peaks between two or more signals. So, if the bubbles distort any of these characteristics, it can make the signal unintelligible.

E-TBEx studies the evolution and impacts of the ionospheric bubbles on communications signals by sending signals with precise characteristics from the CubeSats in low-Earth orbit to receiving stations on the ground — right through the ionosphere, and, sometimes, through these structured bubbles of plasma.

The CubeSats send beacons at three frequencies — 150 megahertz, 400 megahertz and one gigahertz — all with the same phase. When the reach the ground receiving stations, scientists can tell if the signals' phase, amplitude or frequency was disrupted on its journey through the ionosphere. This information allows the team to deduce the total density of any ionospheric bubble the signals traveled through, while also characterizing its effect on signals at different frequencies.

Ultimately, this research could help inform strategies for making communications and navigation more robust, allowing users — including the military and commercial aircraft operators — to shift to a different frequency, change information-encoding techniques, or delay key communications if an ionospheric bubble is spotted.

The science team also uses observations from other missions about the state of space weather and atmospheric conditions to trace possible causes for the ionospheric bubbles as they form — with a particular focus on large terrestrial storm systems, which could launch waves upwards that create these bubbles.

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Instruments and Orbit

In addition to the beacons on the E-TBEx CubeSats and the COSMIC-2 spacecraft, E-TBEx relies on a network of ground receiving stations. These stations use software-defined radio, which allows receivers to tune to multiple frequencies with minimal hardware.

The E-TBEx CubeSats fly in an elliptical orbit inclined at 28 degrees.

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https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/nasa-prepares-to-launch-twin-satellites-to-study-signal-disruption-from-space

June 10, 2019

NASA Prepares to Launch Twin Satellites to Study Signal Disruption Fr om Space

NASA's twin E-TBEx CubeSats — short for Enhanced Tandem Beacon Experiment — are scheduled to launch in June 2019 aboard the Department of Defense's Space Test Program-2 launch. The launch includes a total of 24 satellites from government and research institutions. They will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The E-TBEx CubeSats focus on how radio signals that pass through Earth's upper atmosphere can be distorted by structured bubbles in this region, called the ionosphere. Especially problematic over the equator, these distortions can interfere with military and airline communications as well as GPS signals. The more we can learn about how these bubbles evolve, the more we can mitigate those problems — but right now, scientists can't predict when these bubbles will form or how they'll change over time.

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"These bubbles are difficult to study from the ground," said Rick Doe, payload program manager for the E-TBEx mission at SRI International in Menlo Park, California. "If you see the bubbles start to form, they then move. We're studying the evolution of these features before they begin to distort the radio waves going through the ionosphere to better understand the underlying physics."

The ionosphere is the part of Earth's upper atmosphere wh ere particles are ionized — meaning they're separated out into a sea of positive and negative particles, called plasma. The plasma of the ionosphere is mixed in with neutral gases, like the air we breathe, so Earth's upper atmosphere — and the bubbles that form there — respond to a complicated mix of factors.


This visualization shows the relative density of certain particles in Earth's ionosphere. The E-TBEx CubeSats will explore how signals from satellites to Earth can be disrupted as they pass through this region.
Credits: NASA

Because its particles have electric charge, the plasma in this region responds to electric and magnetic fields. This makes the ionosphere responsive to space weather: conditions in space, including changing electric and magnetic fields, often influenced by the Sun's activity. Scientists also think that pressure waves launched by large storm systems can propagate up into the upper atmosphere, creating winds that shape how the bubbles move and change. This means the ionosphere — and the bubbles — are shaped by terrestrial weather and space weather alike.

The E-TBEx CubeSats send radio beacon signals at three frequencies — close to those used by communications and GPS satellites — to receiving stations on the ground, at which point scientists can detect minute changes in the signals' phase or amplitude. Those disruptions can then be mapped back to the region of the ionosphere through which they passed, giving scientists information about just how these bubbles form and evolve.

"All signals are created at the same time — with the same phase — so you can tell how they get distorted in passing through the bubbles," said Doe. "Then, by looking at the distortions, you can back out information about the amount of roughness and the density in the bubbles."

The data produced by the twin CubeSats is complemented by similar beacons onboard NOAA's six COSMIC-2 satellites. Like the E-TBEx CubeSats, the COSMIC-2 beacons send signals at three frequencies — slightly different than those used by E-TBEx — to receiving stations on the ground. The combination of measurements from all eight satellites will give scientists chances to study some of these bubbles from multiple angles at the same time.

E-TBEx's beacon was built by a team at SRI International, which also designed and fabricated the beacons on COMSIC-2. The E-TBEx CubeSats were developed with Michigan Exploration Lab at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The design, fabrication, integration and testing was carried out mostly by teams of undergraduate and graduate students.


E-TBEx's deployment is tested at the Michigan Exploration Lab. Constructing and testing the E-TBEx CubeSats was particularly complex because of the multiple antennas and solar panels that deploy after launch.
Credits: University of Michigan/Michigan Exploration Lab

"Building and testing E-TBEx was pretty complex because of the number of deployable parts," said James Cutler, an aerospace engineering professor at University of Michigan who led the student teams that worked on E-TBEx. "The payload is essentially a flying radio station, so we have five antennas to deploy — four with two segments each — and, also, four solar panels."

What scientists learn from E-TBEx could help develop strategies to avoid signal distortion — for instance, allowing airlines to choose a frequency less susceptible to disruption, or letting the military delay a key operation until a potentially disruptive ionospheric bubble has passed.

STP-2 is managed by the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center. The Department of Defense mission will demonstrate the capabilities of the Falcon Heavy rocket while delivering satellites to multiple orbits around Earth over the course of about six hours. These satellites include three additional NASA projects to improve future spacecraft design and performance.

By Sarah Frazier
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

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Last Updated: June 10, 2019
Editor: Rob Garner

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https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/tdm/green/overview.html

Green Propellant Infusion Mission (GPIM) Overview

"There are no passengers on spaceship Earth. We are all crew."
-- Marshall McLuhan, 20th-century Canadian philosopher

Through the Green Propellant Infusion Mission, or GPIM, NASA is developing a "green" alternative to conventional chemical propulsion systems for next-generation launch vehicles and spacecraft. The new green propellant will be an enabling technology for commercial spaceports operating across the United States. With the green propellant, launch vehicle and spacecraft fuel loading will be safer, faster and much less costly. The "shirt sleeve" operational environment GPIM offers will change ground processing time from weeks to days. Building and operating satellites will be simplified.

NASA and Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. of Boulder, Colorado, are collaborating on the Green Propellant Infusion Mission, which seeks to improve overall propellant efficiency while reducing the handling concerns associated with the highly toxic fuel, hydrazine. The space technology infusion mission also strives to optimize performance in new hardware, system and power solutions while ensuring the best value for investment and the safest space missions possible.
The Green Propellant Infusion Mission is scheduled to launch in 2019.

The GPIM project will demonstrate the practical capabilities of a Hydroxyl Ammonium Nitrate fuel/oxidizer blend, known as AF-M315E. This innovative, low-toxicity propellant, developed by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory at Edwards Air Force Base, California, is a high-performance, green alternative to hydrazine.

NASA and its partners always strive to maintain the strictest safety standards for storage, transport and use of rocket propellants. While all rocket fuels can be dangerous to handle without the proper safety precautions, AF-M315E has significantly reduced toxicity levels compared to hydrazine, making it easier and safer to store and handle. It also requires fewer handling restrictions and potentially shorter launch processing times, resulting in lowered costs.

AF-M315E also is expected to improve overall vehicle performance. It boasts a higher density than hydrazine, meaning more of it can be stored in containers of the same volume. In addition, it delivers a higher specific impulse, or thrust delivered per given quantity of fuel, and has a lower freezing point, requiring less spacecraft power to maintain its temperature.

The GPIM payload will fly to space aboard a Ball compact small satellite or "smallsat." During the test flight, researchers will conduct orbital maneuvers to demonstrate the performance of the propellant during attitude control maneuvers, changes in orbital inclination and orbit lowering.

Once proven in flight, the project will present AF-M315E -- and compatible tanks, valves and thrusters -- to NASA and the commercial spaceflight industry as a viable, effective solution for future green propellant-based mission applications.

The Ball team includes Aerojet Rocketdyne of Redmond, Washington; the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory at Edwards Air Force Base, California; the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico; and three NASA field centers: NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland Ohio, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

GPIM is sponsored by NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate and is managed by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.

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https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/green_fuel

June 10, 2019

NASA Spacecraft to use 'Green' Fuel for the First Time


The "green" propellant developed by the Air Force Research Lab will be tested in space for the first time with GPIM.
Credits: Aerojet Rocketdyne

A non-toxic, rosé-colored liquid could fuel the future in space and propel missions to the Moon or other worlds. NASA will test the fuel and compatible propulsion system in space for the first time with the Green Propellant Infusion Mission (GPIM), set to launch this month on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.

The mission will demonstrate the exceptional features of a high-performance "green" fuel developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The propellant blends hydroxyl ammonium nitrate with an oxidizer that allows it to burn, creating an alternative to hydrazine, the highly toxic fuel commonly used by spacecraft today.

Spacecraft love hydrazine, but it's toxic to humans. Handling the clear liquid requires strict safety precautions – protective suits, thick rubber gloves and oxygen tanks. GPIM promises fewer handling restrictions that will reduce the time it takes to prepare for launch.

"Spacecraft could be fueled during manufacturing, simplifying processing at the launch facility, resulting in cost savings," explained Christopher McLean, principal investigator for GPIM at Ball Aerospace of Boulder, Colorado. The company leads this NASA technology demonstration mission.

Another perk of the is performance. It's denser than hydrazine and offers nearly 50% better performance – equivalent to getting 50% more miles per gallon on your car. This means spacecraft can travel farther or operate for longer with less propellant onboard.

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Ball Aerospace engineers perform final checks before the spacecraft shipped to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. GPIM is one of four unique NASA technology missions aboard the June 2019 SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch of the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center's Space Test Program-2 (STP-2).
Credits: Aerojet Rocketdyne

In order to tap into the propellant's benefits, engineers first had to develop new hardware – everything from thrusters and tanks to filters and valves. GPIM uses a set of thrusters that fire in different scenarios to test engine performance and reliability. Planned maneuvers include orbit lowering and spacecraft pointing.

Aerojet Rocketdyne in Redmond, Washington, designed, built and extensively tested the GPIM propulsion system. The hardware consists of a propellant tank and five 1-Newton thrusters to carry the non-toxic fuel.

Fred Wilson, director of business development for Aerojet, has decades of experience in spacecraft propulsion systems. Wilson gave credit to NASA for funding the technology, through flight demonstration. Taking the green propellant from the lab to space insures the capability can be fully adopted by government and industry.

"If it weren't for the initial investment and inherent risk of doing something for the first time, this technology would likely already be in space," said Dayna Ise, executive for NASA's Technology Demonstration Missions program that manages GPIM. "NASA stepped up to fund it because we see the value and potential for this technology to propel spaceflight forward."

Building upon the GPIM work, Wilson says Aerojet is moving forward on a range of other thrust-level propulsion systems to utilize high-performance green propellant.

"We see interest in using green propellant across the space industry," Wilson said. "The trend is towards smaller and smaller satellites, to do more mission in a small package."

The technology appeals to small and cube satellite builders who have small budgets and serious space and weight limitations. From small satellites to large spacecraft, there's a wide range of space missions that can benefit by using green propellant. "GPIM has the potential to inspire new ideas and new missions," McLean said.

GPIM will illustrate the benefits of the green fuel and help improve how satellites are designed and operated. The propellant and propulsion system could be used in place of hydrazine regardless of a spacecraft's purpose or destination.

NASA has been charged to land humans on the Moon in 2024 and establish a sustainable presence by 2028. There is potential for this technology to be used for a variety of lunar missions within the Artemis program, but first it must be demonstrated in space.

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GPIM is a technology demonstration mission made possible by NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD). It draws upon a government-industry team of specialists from NASA, Ball Aerospace, Aerojet Rocketdyne and AFRL. GPIM is one of over 20 satellites launching as part of the Department of Defense's Space Test Program-2 (STP-2) mission, which is managed by the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center.

Last Updated: June 10, 2019
Editor: Loura Hall

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https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/tdm/clock/overview.html

Deep Space Atomic Clock (DSAC) Overview

"The most advanced nations are always those who navigate the most."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson, 19th-century American poet

Precise radio navigation -- using radio frequencies to determine position -- is vital to the success of a range of deep-space exploration missions. The Deep Space Atomic Clock project, or DSAC, will fly and validate a miniaturized, ultra-precise, mercury-ion atomic clock that is orders of magnitude more stable than today's best navigation clocks.

Ground-based atomic clocks have long been the cornerstone of most deep-space vehicle navigation because they provide root data necessary for precise positioning. The Deep Space Atomic Clock will deliver the same stability and accuracy for spacecraft exploring the solar system. This new capability could forever change the way we conduct deep-space navigation -- by eliminating the need to "turn signals around" for tracking. Much the same way modern Global Positioning Systems, or GPS, use one-way signals to enable terrestrial navigation services, the Deep Space Atomic Clock will provide the same capability in deep-space navigation -- with such extreme accuracy that researchers will be required to carefully account for the effects of relativity, or the relative motion of an observer and observed objected, as impacted by gravity, space and time (clocks in GPS-based satellite, for example, must be corrected to account for this effect, or their navigational fixes begin to drift).

Over the past 20 years, engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, have been steadily improving and miniaturizing the mercury-ion trap atomic clock, preparing it to operate in the harsh environment of deep space. In the laboratory setting, the Deep Space Atomic Clock's precision has been refined to permit drift of no more than 1 nanosecond in 10 days.

Now the DSAC team is preparing a miniaturized, low-mass atomic clock -- orders of magnitude more accurate and stable than any other atomic clock flown in space, while still being smaller and lighter -- for a test flight in low-Earth orbit. The clock will make use of GPS signals to demonstrate precision orbit determination and confirm its performance, promising new savings on mission operations costs, delivering more science data and enabling further development of deep-space autonomous radio navigation.

The DSAC project currently is building a demonstration unit and payload to be hosted on a spacecraft provided by General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems of Englewood, Colorado. It will launch to Earth orbit in 2019, where the payload will be operated for at least a year to demonstrate its functionality and utility for one-way-based navigation.

The DSAC project is sponsored by NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate and NASA's Space Communications and Navigations network. The project is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

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https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/five-things-to-know-about-nasas-deep-space-atomic-clock

June 4, 2019

Five Things to Know about NASA's Deep Space Atomic Clock


Technicians integrate NASA's Deep Space Atomic Clock into the Orbital Test Bed Earth-orbiting satellite, which will launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, on June 22, 2019.
Credits: General Atomics

NASA is sending a new technology to space on June 22 that will change the way we navigate our spacecraft — even how we send astronauts to Mars and beyond. Built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, the Deep Space Atomic Clock is a technology demonstration that 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.

Here are five key facts to know about NASA's Deep Space Atomic Clock:

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An animated image of the Deep Space Atomic Clock, a new technology being tested by NASA that will change the way humans navigate the solar system. The precise timekeeper is targeted to launch fr om Florida on June 22, 2019, aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

It works a lot like GPS

The Deep Space Atomic Clock is a sibling of the atomic clocks you interact with every day on your smart phone. Atomic clocks aboard satellites enable your phone's GPS application to get you fr om point A to point B by calculating where you are on Earth, based on the time it takes the signal to travel fr om the satellite to your phone.

But spacecraft don't have GPS to help them find their way in deep space; instead, navigation teams rely on atomic clocks on Earth to determine location data. The farther we travel from Earth, the longer this communication takes. The Deep Space Atomic Clock is the first atomic clock designed to fly onboard a spacecraft that goes beyond Earth's orbit, dramatically improving the process.  

It will help our spacecraft navigate autonomously

Today, we navigate in deep space by using giant antennas on Earth to send signals to spacecraft, which then send those signals back to Earth. Atomic clocks on Earth measure the time it takes a signal to make this two-way journey. Only then can human navigators on Earth use large antennas to tell the spacecraft wh ere it is and wh ere to go.

If we want humans to explore the solar system, we need a better, faster way for the astronauts aboard a spacecraft to know wh ere they are, ideally without needing to send signals back to Earth. A Deep Space Atomic Clock on a spacecraft would allow it to receive a signal from Earth and determine its location immediately using an onboard navigation system.

It loses only 1 second in 9 million years

Any atomic clock has to be incredibly precise to be used for this kind of navigation: A clock that is off by even a single second could mean the difference between landing on Mars and missing it by miles. In ground tests, the Deep Space Atomic Clock proved to be up to 50 times more stable than the atomic clocks on GPS satellites. If the mission can prove this stability in space, it will be one of the most precise clocks in the universe.

It keeps accurate time using mercury ions

Your wristwatch and atomic clocks keep time in similar ways: by measuring the vibrations of a quartz crystal. An electrical pulse is sent through the quartz so that it vibrates steadily. This continuous vibration acts like the pendulum of a grandfather clock, ticking off how much time has passed. But a wristwatch can easily drift off track by seconds to minutes over a given period.

An atomic clock uses atoms to help maintain high precision in its measurements of the quartz vibrations. The length of a second is measured by the frequency of light released by specific atoms, which is same throughout the universe. But atoms in current clocks can be sensitive to external magnetic fields and temperature changes. The Deep Space Atomic Clock uses mercury ions — fewer than the amount typically found in two cans of tuna fish — that are contained in electromagnetic traps. Using an internal device to control the ions makes them less vulnerable to external forces.

It will launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket

The Deep Space Atomic Clock will fly on the Orbital Test Bed satellite, which launches on the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with around two dozen other satellites from government, military and research institutions. The launch is targeted for June 22, 2019, at 8:30 p.m. PDT (11:30 p.m. EDT) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and will be live-streamed here:

https://www.nasa.gov/live

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The Deep Space Atomic Clock is hosted on a spacecraft provided by General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems of Englewood, Colorado. It is sponsored by the Technology Demonstration Missions program within NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate and the Space Communications and Navigations program within NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. The project is managed by JPL.

Arielle Samuelson
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-0307
arielle.a.samuelson@jpl.nasa.gov

Last Updated: June 4, 2019
Editor: Tony Greicius

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How NASA's Deep Space Atomic Clock Could Be the Next Space GPS

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Опубликовано: 10 июн. 2019 г.

NASA has perfected new navigation technology that would make self-driving spacecraft and GPS beyond the Moon a reality. The Deep Space Atomic Clock is the first atomic clock small and stable enough to fly on a spacecraft beyond Earth's orbit. As NASA works to put humans on Mars and the Moon, the clock's precise timekeeping will be key to these missions' success.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GEeak4Vphshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GEeak4Vphs (1:48)