Slashdot Mirror


Discrepancy Detected In GPS Time

jones_supa writes that on Tuesday, 26th January, Aalto University's Metsähovi observatory located in Kirkkonummi, Finland, detected a rare anomaly in time reported by the GPS system (Google translation). The automatic monitoring system of a hydrogen maser atomic clock triggered an alarm which reported a deviation of 13.7 microseconds. While this is tiny, it is a sign of a problem somewhere, and does not exclude the possibility of larger timekeeping problems happening. The specific source of the problem is not known, but candidates are a faulty GPS satellite or an atomic clock placed in one. Particle flare-up from sun is unlikely, as the observatory has currently not detected unusually high activity from sun.

6 of 187 comments (clear)

  1. Was systemd installed on any of the satellites? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Was systemd installed on any of the satellites recently? Maybe it was installed unintentionally, while upgrading the satellite from Debian 7 to Debian 8?

  2. OK finally by argStyopa · · Score: 5, Funny

    Reading this, I really feel like I'm living in the future:
    "The automatic monitoring system of a hydrogen maser atomic clock triggered an alarm which reported a deviation of 13.7 microseconds."

    --
    -Styopa
  3. Re:Faulty sat? No problem... by Snotnose · · Score: 5, Funny

    there really should be a way to correct time in a GPS satellite

    1) Press and hold the Set Time button until the indicator lamp lights (5 seconds)
    2) Press + or - until the correct time is reached
    3) Release Set Time button.

  4. Re:Faulty sat? No problem... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Ephemeris only takes a few seconds to download. I think you meant Almanac which takes ~7 minutes and describes orbit with relatively low accuracy.

  5. Re:Faulty sat? No problem... by Seraphim1982 · · Score: 4, Funny

    >Sure, you just have to update the configuration of all GPS devices on earth...

    If only they were capable of receiving signals from some sort of satellite.

  6. Re:Faulty sat? No problem... by Greyfox · · Score: 4, Funny

    Oh yeah, don't do any root cause analysis or anything, just keep ignoring all those gravity waves jittering the clocks on our orbiting atomic clock satellite network :-P

    --

    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?