ACES (Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space)
Principal Investigator(s):
- Cristophe Salomon, Ph.D., European Space Agency (ESA)
Overview: Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space (ACES) is a European Space Agency (ESA) mission that aims to help answer fundamental physics questions. By comparing a highly precise atomic clock aboard the International Space Station with numerous ground atomic clocks around the world (including ones coordinated by NASA), ACES could take global time synchronization and clock comparison experiments to new heights.
Science objectives:
- Achieve extraordinary precision in timekeeping
- Provide fresh insights into the precise relationship between gravity and time
- Enable new terrestrial applications such as relativistic geodesy (the science of measuring Earth's shape, gravity field, and rotation)
Potential Earth applications:
- Contributes to geodesy
- Enhances the accuracy of global timekeeping systems, crucial for technologies like GPS, satellite operations, and telecommunications
- Could contribute to the use of precision clocks in scientific research on Earth
Potential space applications:
- Advancing atomic clock technologies, critical for space navigation and future space missions
- Could lead to a next generation of atomic quantum sensors for applications such as atom interferometry
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