The 10,000 Year Clock

This is no ordinary clock

There is a Clock ringing deep inside a mountain. It is a huge Clock, hundreds of feet tall, designed to tick for 10,000 years.

The primary materials used in the Clock are marine grade 316 stainless steel, titanium and dry running ceramic ball bearings. The entire mechanism will be installed in an underground facility in west Texas.

Never the Same Chime

Every once in a while the bells of this buried Clock play a melody. Each time the chimes ring, it’s a melody the Clock has never played before.

Believe It or Not! the Clock’s chimes have been programmed to not repeat themselves for 10,000 years!

Most times the Clock rings when a visitor has wound it, but the Clock hoards energy from a different source and occasionally it will ring itself when no one is around to hear it. It’s anyone’s guess how many beautiful songs will never be heard over the Clock’s 10 millennial lifespan.

Anniversary Rooms

Carved into the mountain are five room-sized anniversary chambers: 1 year, 10 year, 100 year, 1,000 year, and 10,000 year anniversaries.

The one year anniversary chamber is a special orrery . In addition to the planets and the Earth’s moon, it includes all of the interplanetary probes launched during the 20th century, humankind’s first century in space. Among others, you’ll see the Grand Tour: Voyager 2′s swing by of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The Clock will activate and run the  orrery  once a year on a pre-determined date at solar noon.

An orrery is a mechanical device that illustrates the relative positions and motions of the planets and moons in the Solar System in a heliocentric model. They are typically driven by a clockwork mechanism with a globe representing the Sun at the center, and with a planet at the end of each of the arms.

Scale replica of the clock

If you want to find out more about this unbelievable clock, please visit longnow.org and 10000yearclock.net.