HP Innovation Journal Issue 13: Winter 2019 | Page 66

1965 REMEMBER WHEN HP AIMS FOR THE MOON In the Space Race of the 1960s, HP was an important part of NASA’s successful Apollo program. And keeping stellar time for the missions, starting with Apollo 8 in 1968, was HP’s Cesium Beam Frequency Standard atomic clock. Invented in 1964 by Dr. Leonard Cutler and Alan Bagley, the clock was designed to maintain accuracy for 3,000 years within only one second of error. It made its debut during a world tour of all global standards labs coined the “Flying Clock.” The tour granted the clock a first class seat and the galley power supply usually reserved for baby bottle warmers. Its stellar performance during this tour is what solidified its feasibility beginning with Apollo 8, the first manned mission to orbit the moon and return. 64 HP Innovation Journal Issue 13 The atomic clock was a critical contribution to the space program as it synchronized all 18 tracking stations and com- munications systems in NASA’s network, enabling real-time communication between Houston’s Mission Control and the Apollo spacecraft. As timekeeper for the Apollo commu- nications and control systems, Houston Control would have known almost instantaneously about any navigational prob- lems during critical maneuvers such as docking and lunar departure and would have been able to take corrective action. HP’s atomic clock became the most widely used cesium beam atomic frequency standard in the world due to its performance and reliability. Above, John Haltiwanger and Cal Lidback unload the cesium beam standard atomic clock at the US Naval Observatory.