A few degrees of planetary warming may not sound alarming but it is. A few microseconds of error don't sound like much but they can mean the difference between navigating a spacecraft successfully to Mars, or not.
In this episode Dave talks to Drew Shindell about a web article called "A Degree of Concern: Why Global Temperatures Matter." Written by NASA Media Specialist Alan Buis, Shindell, a Duke University Atmospheric Physicist was the scientific collaborator on the project which explains how just a degree or two of average planetary warming can and most definitely will have dramatic consequences on ecosystems and the human civilization that depends on them.
In the second half of the show we examine the revolutionary Deep Space Atomic Clock with its Principal Investigator Todd Ely. Launched in June by the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, the clock promises to help make future spaceflight, from space tourism to missions to Mars, possible due to autonomous navigation rather than depending on Earth based communication.
