What is a GPS? How does it work?
The Global Positioning System (GPS) tells you where you are on Earth.
It's eleven o'clock ... do you know where your kids are? Would you like to? One
way to track them would be to have a GPS receiver installed in the car! The
GPS, or Global Positioning System, is one of the hottest technologies around,
and no wonder. Consider these diverse uses:
Minnesota scientists use GPS to study movements and feeding habits of deer.
Surveyors used GPS to measure how the buildings shifted after the bombing in
Oklahoma City .
GPS help settle property disputes between land owners.
Marine archaeologists use GPS to guide research vessels hunting for shipwrecks.
GPS data has revealed that Mt. Everest is getting taller!
GPS answers five questions simultaneously:
"Where am I?"
"Where am I going?"
"Where are you?"
"What's the best way to get there?
"When will I get there?"
GPS is the only system today that can show your exact position on the Earth
anytime, in any weather, no matter where you are!
Development:
Like so many other high-tech developments, GPS was designed by the U. S.
military. The concept started in the late '60s but the first satellite wasn't
launched until February 1978. In 1989 the Magellan Corp. introduced the first
hand-held GPS receiver. In 1992 GPS was used in Operation Desert Storm. On
March 1996 the President decided to make GPS free for civilian users.
System Description:
GPS has three 'segments':
The space segment now consists of 28 satellites, each in its own orbit about
11,000 nautical miles above the Earth.
The user segment consists of receivers, which you can hold in your hand or
mount in your car.
The control segment consists of ground stations (five of them, located around
the world) that make sure the satellites are working properly.
Civilian Use:
At first, the military did not want to let civilians use GPS, fearing that
smugglers, terrorists, or hostile forces would use it. Finally, bowing to
pressure from the companies that built the equipment, The Defense Department
made GPS available for non-military purposes, with some restrictions. On May 1,
2000, President Clinton lifted the restrictions, and announced that the option
to degrade civil GPS signals during emergencies would be phased out by 2010.
The federal government is committed to providing GPS technology for peaceful
uses on a worldwide basis, free of charge
