Gernot Maria Rudolph Winkler (October 17, 1922 – April 30, 2016) was responsible for the Time Service Department of the

United States Naval Observatory The United States Naval Observatory (USNO) is a scientific and military facility that produces geopositioning, navigation and timekeeping data for the United States Navy and the United States Department of Defense. Established in 1830 as the ...

(USNO) from 1966 to 1996. Winkler oversaw the introduction of caesium beam-based Coordinated Universal Time based on hyperfine transitions and an internationally transportable " flying clock". This in turn led Winkler to promote precision global positioning techniques (initially by time-reliable surface broadcasts in the

LORAN LORAN (Long Range Navigation) was a hyperbolic navigation, hyperbolic radio navigation system developed in the United States during World War II. It was similar to the UK's Gee (navigation), Gee system but operated at lower frequencies in order ...

and

Omega Omega (, ; uppercase Ω, lowercase ω; Ancient Greek ὦ, later ὦ μέγα, Modern Greek ωμέγα) is the twenty-fourth and last letter in the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numerals, Greek numeric system/isopsephy (gematria), it has a value ...

radio-beacon chains, later by

two-way satellite time and frequency transfer Two-way satellite time and frequency transfer (TWSTFT) is a high-precision long distance time and frequency transfer mechanism between time bureaux to determine and distribute time and frequency standards. TWSTFT is being evaluated as an altern ...

(TWSTT).

Early life

Gernot was born in the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n town of

Frohnleiten Frohnleiten () is a town in the district of Graz-Umgebung in the Austrian state of Styria. Rathaus_Frohnleiten.JPG, Town Hall of Frohnleiten Frohnleiten Baroque gables 264.jpg, Baroque gables at the main square of Frohnleiten Frohnleiten_Oktober_ ...

, which is the home of a technology institute (Technisches Büro für Luftfahrt und Maschinenbau). He was the son of Gustav and Eleanor (

Née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Schneider) Winkler. His interest in astronomy was inspired by German spaceflight pioneer

Hermann Oberth Hermann Julius Oberth (; 25 June 1894 – 28 December 1989) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian-born German physicist and rocket pioneer of Transylvanian Saxons, Transylvanian Saxon descent. Oberth supported Nazi Germany's war effort and re ...

when he was about 12. The science fiction writer

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

was also a favourite. During

WWII World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he was drafted into the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

; he was arrested by the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. In 1947, Winkler resumed his studies at the

University of Graz The University of Graz (, formerly: ''Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz'') is a public university, public research university located in Graz, Austria. It is the largest and oldest university in Styria, as well as the second-largest and second-old ...

. In 1952 he obtained a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

theoretical physics Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain, and predict List of natural phenomena, natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental p ...

and was an associate of the

Kanzelhoehe Solar Observatory The Kanzelhoehe Solar Observatory or KSO is an astronomical observatory affiliated with the Institute of Geophysics, Astrophysics and Meteorology out of the University of Graz.Meteorological and Geoastrophysical Abstracts. United States, America ...

. In 1956 he and fellow Austrian Fritz Reder arrived in the United States to work in the microwave resonance branch of the

Signal Corps A signal corps is a military branch, responsible for military communications (''signals''). Many countries maintain a signal corps, which is typically subordinate to a country's army. Military communication usually consists of radio, telephone, ...

, joining the USNO that year.

Recognition

*Winkler received several honours including: **the 1988 I. I. Rabi Award sponsored by the

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE ...

and **the

Precise Time and Time Interval Precise Time and Time Interval (PTTI) is a United States Department of Defense, Department of Defense United States Armed Forces, military and Global Positioning System Technical standard, standard which details a mechanism and waveform for distrib ...

Distinguished Service Award of 1994 from the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...

. * A main-belt asteroid ( 6473 Winkler) was named in his honour. <-- NOTE: According to the IAU Minor Planet Center (minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=6473) this asteroid was: "Named in honor of Ron Winkler (b. 1954), digital engineer in the radio astronomy and radar group at NASA's Goldstone deep space communications complex." * He is also remembered (in

ESOC The European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) serves as the main mission control centre for the European Space Agency (ESA) and is located in Darmstadt, Germany. ESOC's primary function is the operation of uncrewed spacecraft on behalf of ESA and ...

) for reputedly remarking that *:''"Times can only improve if designers have their noses forced down on the grindstone of operations."''

References

American physicists 1922 births 2016 deaths University of Graz alumni Austrian military personnel of World War II German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United States Austrian emigrants to the United States {{US-physicist-stub