The SHM Hydrogen Atomic Clock for Space Applications: Development and Test of the PEM Physics Package

Laurent-Guy Bernier, Alain Jornod, Harmut Schweda, Roland Gentsch, Giovanni Busca

Abstract:	A compact Space-borne active Hydrogen Maser (SHM) frequency standard is being developed By the Observatory of Neuchatel under the Swiss PRODEX program of ESA. The SHM instrument will be flown on the Radioastron (RA) mission in 2000 to be used as the reference clock for orbital Very Long Baseline Inteferometry (VLBI) and for the red-ship experiment CRONOS. The SHM design is based on a miniature sapphire loaded microwave cavity which makes possible an active hydrogen maser with a 1.7 liter storage volume for atomic hydrogen within a 50 kg space qualified instrument. A preliminary measurement of the SHM instrument frequency stability using breadboard electronics has yielded an Allan deviation of oy(1000s)= 3x10^-l5 which is already close to the oy(1000s) < 15 x10^-15 instrument specification. An extensive program for the design verification by test & analysis of the PEM-PP was performed in 1997 and is now near completion. Potential space applications of a compact active hydrogen maser instrument include scientific experiments related to relativity, precise ranging and navigation, time dissemination and synchronization. Present plans are to push miniaturization even further with the development of a 35 kg active hydrogen MAser for Navigation (MAN) for GNSS applications.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 29th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Systems and Applications Meeting December 2 - 4, 1997 Sheraton Long Beach Hotel Long Beach, California
Pages:	61 - 68
Cite this article:	Bernier, Laurent-Guy, Jornod, Alain, Schweda, Harmut, Gentsch, Roland, Busca, Giovanni, "The SHM Hydrogen Atomic Clock for Space Applications: Development and Test of the PEM Physics Package," Proceedings of the 29th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Systems and Applications Meeting, Long Beach, California, December 1997, pp. 61-68.
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