Space clocks to test Einstein theory
Friedrichshafen, Germany (dpa) - Engineers at Airbus Defence and Space in the German city of Friedrichshafen are assembling what is being described as the most precise "clock ensemble" ever in an effort to test, from space, a phenomenon in Albert Einste
Comprising two atomic clocks with laser and microwave links to Earth, the "super clock" for the European Space Agency, dubbed ACES (atomic clock ensemble in space), is to be launched in 2017 and attached to the International Space Station's European Columbus module.
Airbus Defence and Space, a division of the Airbus Group, says ACES precision will equal the loss of just one second every 300 million years.
According to the theory by Einstein, the German-born physicist and 1921 Nobel Prize winner, the speed at which time passes depends on gravitational conditions - the closer to a large body like the Earth, the slower time passes.
Over an eight-month period, scientists plan to compare the time recorded by ACES with that of atomic clocks on Earth.
