Transit satellites were not designed to provide accurate time. But they did carry ultra-precise quartz oscillators to control their radio frequencies. This unit containing two oscillators was designed at the Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory in 1959. It is the same as those flown on Transit satellites 2A and 4B in the early 1960s.
Caption:
Quartz oscillator used to control radio frequency on Transit satellites.
Type: Artifact
Image Date: 2012
Credit: National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Origin: National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
