Official Swiss presence at Space-X launch in Florida

The Swiss State Secretary for Education, Research and Innovation, Martina Hirayama, is attending a rocket launch in Florida (USA) on Monday. Elon Musk's rocket will carry Swiss research material to the International Space Station (ISS). During the mission, the ACES (Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space) instrument will be transported to the ISS. It consists of two atomic clocks that transmit different signals. One of them was developed and built in Switzerland, as the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER) told news agency Keystone-SDA. The aim is to compare time data in space with that on Earth and to gain physical insights from it. The fact that the instrument will fly to the ISS on a Elon Musk's rocket is not the main focus, said the EAER spokesperson, confirming an article in the Sonntagszeitung newspaper. Instead, Hirayama would meet representatives from the US space agency NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) during her visit. Adapted from German ...