Quartz Oscillator

To improve navigation in space, NASA sought more stable timing instruments. Beginning in 1961, NASA used this quartz oscillator as the main timing and radio frequency standard at the Goldstone tracking station.

This oscillator improved the accuracy of velocity measurements from tens of meters per second to about 50 millimeters per second. In 1962, it was replaced by atomic clocks that could measure velocity to an accuracy of 5 millimeters per second.