NAVEX - a Space Shuttle Experiment With Atomic Clocks

S. Starker, H. Nau, J. Hannesfahr, H. Tschiesche

Abstract:	NAVEX is a navigation- and time transfer experiment. It will be flown within the payload of the first German Spacelab mission D-1 , scheduled in June 1985. The objectives of the experiment are to synchronize distant ground stations with an accuracy of better than 10 nsec and to demonstrate one way ranging with an accuracy of better than 30 m. Spread spectrum signals will be used and the related technique will be tested. On board a Cs and a Rb clock will be used. The relativistic effect of these clocks will be about -25 usec per day. On the ground at least two receiving stations and one transmitting-receiving station will be installed. The synchronization of the ground clocks by Shuttle signals will be compared to those achieved with clock transportations and with GPS measurements. The paper gives a system description of this experiment, containing details on the technical concept, the hardware and the planned data evaluation. The present state of the preparatory work is briefly reviewed.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 14th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Systems and Applications Meeting November 30 - 3, 1982 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland
Pages:	181 - 203
Cite this article:	Starker, S., Nau, H., Hannesfahr, J., Tschiesche, H., "NAVEX - a Space Shuttle Experiment With Atomic Clocks," Proceedings of the 14th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Systems and Applications Meeting, Greenbelt, Maryland, November 1982, pp. 181-203.
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