# THE U.S. NAVAL OBSERVATORY ATOMIC CLOCK DETERMINATION OF TIME & LOCATION 78394

Made in 1970, this U.S. Navy film presents the mission of the U.S. Naval Observatory in context of the era of space exploration, the creation of the atomic clock, and the need to have very precise measurements of time and space for scientific and defense purposes. The United States Naval Observatory (USNO) is one of the oldest scientific agencies in the United States, with a primary mission to produce Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) for the United States Navy and the United States Department of Defense. Located in Northwest Washington, D.C. at the Northwestern end of Embassy Row, it is one of the pre-1900 astronomical observatories located in an urban area; at the time of its construction, it was far from the light pollution thrown off by the (then-smaller) city center. The USNO operates the "Master Clock", which provides precise time to the GPS satellite constellation run by the United States Air Force. The USNO performs radio VLBI-based positions of quasars with numerous global collaborators, in order to produce Earth Orientation parameters. Aside from its scientific mission, since 1974, the official residence of the Vice President of the United States has been Number One Observatory Circle, a house on the grounds of the Naval Observatory. At mark 1:08 a simple explanation of Earth positions is defined by longitude for E-W direction and latitude N-S of the equator. At mark 1:33, we have the relating of objects to the sky. We have circumnavigation through…

- Kind: Film
- Genres: Space, Industrial and advertising
- Archive: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/78394TheUSNavalObservatory)
- Licence or status: none stated by the archive
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/ia/78394TheUSNavalObservatory?play=1)