[time-nuts] moon bounce for synchronization
jimlux
jimlux at earthlink.net
Sat Jan 30 09:16:04 EST 2016
This month's historical picture from JPL
http://beacon.jpl.nasa.gov/historical-photo-of-the-month
This atomic clock was used at the Goldstone Time Standards Laboratory in
1970, to synchronize clocks at Deep Space Network stations around the
world. This master clock was accurate to plus or minus two millionths of
a second, when compared to clocks maintained by the National Bureau of
Standards and the U.S. Naval Observatory. In the late 1960s, JPL had
developed a moon bounce technique to transmit signals from one deep
space antenna to another. Experiments included periodic measurement of
timing signals that were reflected from the surface of the moon, to find
out if the station clocks were within allowable limits for accuracy.
Time-nut will recognize, of course, that none of the things in that
picture are actually an atomic clock, although they are thing that are
useful if you have an atomic clock.
Note the sophisticated temperature monitoring system.
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