Prestage is currently the Science and Technology lead for the NASA/JPL DSAC (Deep Space Atomic Clock) mission, where an ion-atomic clock has been developed for deep space and
Earth orbit operation and is the prototype for the next generation
GPS space atomic clock. Prior to DSAC, he led the
SCaN Space Ion Clock Technology Development Team where a prototype ion-clock led to the DSAC flight clock. He developed the
first linear rf ion trap, the
first multi-pole linear ion trap together with
ion transfer methodology to enable ultra-stable atomic ion clock operation. Ion-clocks based on this architecture were the first to exceed the stability of H-maser clocks.
Linear ion traps are now used worldwide for ion clocks, quantum computing, and quadrupole mass analyzers. He designed and delivered small ion trap physics packages for
DARPA small atomic clock competitions, both the IMPACT and ACES programs. He created and carried out new tests of
Local Lorentz Invariance and Local Position Invariance – both cornerstones of
Einstein's
General Relativity. Two NASA mission proposals (
SMEX and MIDEX mission
Space-Time) were based on this work. This work started the modern day clock comparison searches for time variation of the fundamental constants. Prestage is also an active
IEEE member in the International Frequency Control Symposium where he served as Technical Program Chair for 2000 and 2001. He also spent several years as Tutorials Chair. == Selected awards ==