Global Positioning System (GPS): Navigating the World Since 1978

The Global Positioning System (GPS), first developed in 1978 by the United States Department of Defense, has become a vital tool in navigation, land-surveying, and map making. Each year, the United States government spends approximately 750 million dollars to upkeep and maintain the system; however, despite this high cost, GPS services are free for residents to use.

What is GPS and how does it Work?

So what is GPS anyway? Global Positioning System is a collection of satellites that transmits signals to receivers, from which the receiver’s direction, location, and speed can be determined. Currently, there are more than twenty-four of such satellites in orbit around the earth. The GPS consists of three segments: the space segment, the control segment, and the user segment.

The space segment refers to those GPS satellites that were mentioned earlier. These satellites are distributed equally throughout six orbital planes, which are centered on the earth. Each of these satellites makes two full orbits every sidereal day, meaning that it passes over the same region of the earth once every day.

The control segment monitors and tracks the flight paths of those segments. This tracking is done from stations in Colorado, Kwaialein, Hawaii, Ascension Island, and Diego Garcia. Officials at these locations provide the satellites with navigational updates, which provide the GPS satellites with time and space weather data.

The user segments are the receivers of the system’s signals, which come in many different formats. However, one common feature of all GPS receivers is an antenna of some sort. The number of channels a receiver has describes the number of satellites it can receive signals from (a modern receiver could have anywhere from five to twenty channels). Many receivers can send signals to cars and personal computers.

What are Some Common Applications of the Global Positioning System?

The GPS is used in many practical fields. For example, the technology is frequently used by the military for targeting weapons and as nuclear detonation detectors. This type of technology is also used in airplanes, cars, and boats primarily for navigational purposes. Outdoor sportsmen, such as hikers and bikers use the technology for the same reason. There is even technology available for the visually impaired. Other common uses of GPS information include mapping, land surveying, tracking, archeology, emergency services, weather prediction, and skydiving.

Global Positioning System technology has come very far since the first experimental satellite was launched in 1978, and it shows potential for being important to future generations as well.

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