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AsteriaStar

Time standard

Spacecraft Clock (SCLK)

The onboard counter that timestamps a spacecraft's data. Because it drifts relative to ground time, mission teams maintain a correlation (SCLK-to-ground time) using the tracking network so that events can be placed on a common timescale.

Type
Time standard
Domain
Scientific connections
Connections
1

Experience system V6

Time standard scientific profile

A graph-grounded scientific layout that adapts to available evidence, imagery, relations, and source coverage.

Evidence graphScientific mapOriginal SVGSource trail
  1. 01

    Observe

    The page falls back to graph and source evidence when no cleared image is available.

  2. 02

    Measure

    Measurement panels use graph coverage, catalog identifiers, and source availability without inventing values.

  3. 03

    Locate

    Associated with Deep Space Network (DSN).

  4. 04

    Connect

    1 graph relation shape the knowledge viewport.

Object type
Time standard
Graph relations
1
Verified sources
2
Image records
0
Domain
Scientific connections
Status
Graph entity

Scientific map

Atlas context

Spacecraft Clock (SCLK)coordinate fields shown only when available
  • Associated with

    Deep Space Network (DSN)

Original SVG diagram

Scientific schematic

Optical pathCollected lightFocal plane / instrumentTime standard
Object class
Time standard
Catalog numbers
Not recorded
Graph relations
1
Sources
2
Deep Space Networ...Spacecraft Clock (SCLK)Time standard

Visual knowledge graph

Relationships, not isolated facts

This viewport is generated from the Asteria knowledge graph. Science, culture, and interpretive links remain separated by domain so visual context never changes the evidentiary meaning of a relation.

Continue the atlas

Curated next objects

tracking network

Deep Space Network (DSN)

NASA's international array of giant radio antennas — at Goldstone (California), Madrid, and Canberra — that communicates with interplanetary spacecraft and distant satellites, spaced around the globe for continuous coverage.

time standard

Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)

The civil time standard, derived from International Atomic Time but kept within a second of the Earth's rotation by occasional leap seconds. Deep-space tracking tags its measurements in UTC.

tracking station

Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex

The southern-hemisphere complex of NASA's Deep Space Network, in Australia. Its 70 m antenna (DSS-43) is the only one able to command Voyager 2 on its southward interstellar trajectory.

space mission

Cassini–Huygens

Cassini–Huygens was a NASA–ESA–ASI mission launched in 1997 that orbited Saturn from 2004 to 2017 and delivered the Huygens probe to the surface of its moon Titan.

tracking network

Commercial Deep-Space Services

A growing set of commercial providers — such as KSAT, SSC, and Goonhilly — that offer deep-space and near-Earth ground-station support on a service basis, augmenting the government networks as mission traffic grows. NASA's Near Space Network increasingly buys commercial services alongside its own antennas.

space mission

DART

DART was the first planetary-defence test, deliberately impacting the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos to change its orbit.

Data

Scientific data & provenance

Data & provenance

Stable ID
time_standard:spacecraft-clock
Type
Time standard
Domain
Scientific connections
Relationships
1
Graph version
1.0.0

Dataset membership

Open data

In the graph export: graph.json · graph.jsonld

Planned API: GET /api/v0/entities/time_standard:spacecraft-clock

Scientific quality

Substantial
Unreviewed2 sourcesv1.0.0

2 of 4 applicable dimensions complete, 1 partial

Description
Complete
Source coverage
Complete
Relationship coverage
Partial
Review coverage
None
Citation coverage
Not applicable
Image coverage
Not applicable
Timeline coverage
Not applicable

Scientific entity. Dimensions that cannot apply to this object are excluded rather than counted as gaps. See the evidence framework and authority dashboard.

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Sources & references

The primary and reference sources this topic draws on.

  • NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration

    Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.

    Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.

  • NASA JPLJet Propulsion Laboratory / Solar System Dynamics

    Orbital data, ephemerides, and small-body parameters for planets, asteroids, and comets.