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Image of a Satellite
of Type IIR (Block IIR) of the GPS constellation.
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Geocaching-
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Latest
GPS and related News below:
Latest
News-
New GPS satellites
with additional frequencies
Steam powered GPS - on
a train 
EPIRB rescues documented
The NAVSTAR Global
Positioning System (GPS) is now officially 30 years old
(as of 22 February 2008). The system launched its first satellite
in 1978, and
has evolved to the point where it exerts global strategic and
economic
influence, by its provision of positioning services anywhere
on the globe. The system is owned and operated by the US Defence
Department.
In order to ensure independent access
to positioning services, Galileo is the equivalent European
navigation satellite system, currently in design and test stages.
It will offer highly accurate
positioning
services
to nomad users. It will be interoperable with the US Global
Positioning System (GPS) and Russia's Global Navigation Satellite
System (Glonass), the two other global satellite navigation
systems.
A new Global Positioning System
(GPS) satellite was carried into orbit Saturday 15 March
2008, by a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta II
rocket powered by
a
Pratt
and Whitney Rocketdyne RS-27A rocket engine.
The RS-27A performed perfectly as it boosted the ULA Delta
II and its GPSIIR-19 payload from the Cape Canaveral Air
Force Station,
marking the 221st flight for the RS-27 family of rocket engine
systems and the 332nd Delta mission. Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne
(PWR) is a United Technologies Corp. company
"Today's launch continues our partnership with the ULA
and the U.S. Air Force as the GPSII constellation is modernized
and improved," said RS-27A program manager Elizabeth Jones. "We've
provided first-stage power for every GPSII mission and we will
continue to work hard to ensure the critical missions of our
customers are successful."
During the mission, the RS-27A engine system fired for nearly
four and a half minutes and produced 200,000 pounds of thrust
before transitioning to the rocket's second stage power source.
Galileo Sends First Signals
Based On Alcatel Alenia Space's Tech
Paris, France (SPX) Jan 18, 2006
Giove-A, the first Galileo pilot satellite launched on December
28th 2005, has transmitted its signals to the Earth stations
using the Navigation Signal Generation Unit (NSGU) and
the wide-band
Navigation Antenna developed by Alcatel Alenia Space.
Construction
of Giove-B, the second
satellite of the Galileo constellation will enable to test
critical new technologies in orbit. This satellite is currently
in our integration centre in Rome for testing and final assembly."
Putin wants satnav collar for dog,
and notes on GLONASS: by
Staff Writers
Moscow (AFP) Dec 24, 2007
Russian President Vladimir Putin is considering buying a satnav
dog collar for his labrador, Connie, in case she gets lost, the
country's deputy prime minister revealed Monday.
"
When can I get a system for my dog, Connie, so she can't go too
far astray?", Putin asked Sergey Ivanov, when the deputy
PM presented plans for launching three new satellites. "Dog
collars will be in the shops from July 2008," Ivanov
replied in all seriousness, according to the news agency Itar-Tass.
The Russian rocket Proton-K is due to launch
three new satellites into orbit on Christmas Day to facilitate
Russia's GLONASS navigation
system. They will bring to 18 the total number of satellites
mapping Russian territory. Ultimately it is planned to have 24
satellites in orbit from 2009. The GLONASS system was developed
by the Russian army in the 1980s, in competition with the US
GPS network, and the European
Galileo system.
For more information about GPS applications under the auspices
of the Australian Government, visit the GNSS website.
Modernized
GPS Satellites Built By Lockheed Martin
The
first IIR-M satellite, designated GPS IIR-14 (M), was
launched in September 2005. The IIR satellite is the
most technologically
advanced GPS satellite ever developed and provides significantly
improved navigation performance for U.S. military and
civilian users worldwide.The modernized series
offers a variety of enhanced features for GPS users.
1.
modernized antenna panel that provides increased signal
power to receivers on the ground,
2.
two new military signals for improved accuracy, enhanced
encryption and anti-jamming capabilities,
3.
a second civil signal that will provide civil users
with an open access signal on a different frequency.
The
Global Positioning System enables properly equipped users
to determine precise time and velocity and worldwide latitude,
longitude and altitude to within a few meters. |
Cape Canaveral FL (SPX) Dec 21, 2007
A U.S. Air Force modernized Global Positioning System Block IIR (GPS IIR-M)
satellite, designed and built by Lockheed Martin, was launched successfully
from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA)
Delta II launch vehicle.
Designated GPS IIR-18M, the satellite is the fifth in a series of eight Block
IIR-M spacecraft that Lockheed Martin Navigation Systems has modernized for
its customer, the Global Positioning Systems Wing, Space and Missile Systems
Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif. The Block IIR-M series includes
new features that enhance operations and navigation signal performance for
military and civilian GPS users around the globe.
Representing the second successful GPS IIR-M mission
in just two months, the satellite joins four IIR-M satellites
and 12 other operational Block IIR satellites within the
current 30-spacecraft constellation. Air Force Space Command's
2nd Space Operations Squadron (2 SOPS) at Schriever Air Force Base, Colo.,
manages
and operates
the GPS constellation for both civil and military users.
Lockheed Martin is also leading a team which includes ITT
and General Dynamics in the competition to build the U.S.
Air Force's next-generation Global Positioning System, GPS
Block III. The next-generation program will improve position,
navigation, and timing services for the warfighter and civil
users worldwide and provide advanced anti-jam capabilities
yielding improved system security, accuracy and reliability.
A multi-billion dollar development contract is scheduled
to be awarded by the Global Positioning Systems Wing, Space
and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif.
in early 2008.
|
An insight into commissioning
a new GPS satellite. Reported April 2004. A US Air Force and
Lockheed Martin team has completed on-orbit checkout
of the
upgraded
Global
Positioning System (GPS) satellite launched successfully March
20 2004 from Cape Canaveral. The spacecraft, designated GPS IIR-11,
has been declared fully operational for navigation users around
the globe. The launch represented
the 50th GPS mission for the Air Force and was dedicated to the
late Dr. Ivan A. Getting, the founder of the GPS concept, who
passed away in October 2003. A plaque was attached to the satellite
featuring one of Getting's best-known quotes, "Lighthouses
in the Sky, Serving All Mankind." The
Global Positioning System allows any properly equipped user to
determine precise time and velocity and worldwide latitude, longitude
and altitude to within a few meters. Although originally designed
as a guidance and navigational tool for the military, GPS has
proven beneficial in the commercial and civil markets for transportation,
surveying and rescue operations.
Navigating
around Cities - a real Challenge
August 2004. Getting to know a city is a big job, but getting
through a city shouldn't be. Unfortunately, some metropolitan
areas
present a navigational challenge for even the most intelligent,
savvy drivers. In fact, according to a recent study conducted
by "Best
Places to Live" expert, Bert Sperling, Boston is America's "most
challenging city to navigate". City study specialists
at Sperling's Best Places, analyzed how difficult America's
largest 75 cities are to navigate. The analysis could clearly
apply to larger Australian cities.
How many could be termed "driver-friendly."?
Sperling evaluated the America's cities according to the
following criteria:
* street layouts (grids, diagonals, windiness, one-way streets);
* overall design and layout (how spread out the market is);
* travel time index;
* percent of congested freeway and street lane miles;
* bodies of water (rivers, lakes, oceans, bridges);
* complexity of directions needed to travel from major airports
to city center;
* annual delay per person (person hours);
* days of snow exceeding one-and-one-half inches; and
* days of rain exceeding half an inch
The Cost of Getting Lost
As business travel continues
to rise, the need to maximize productivity on the road is becoming
increasingly important. According to a consumer survey, 65 percent
of travellers agree that
certain cities are more consistently difficult to navigate,
and 57 percent agree that getting lost is one of the worst things
that
can happen on a business trip. Further, nearly 70 percent of travellers
agree that getting lost can negatively impact the outcome of a
business meeting. 93
percent said that arriving late to a business meeting as a result
of getting lost, makes a poor impression.
To avoid getting lost, 68 percent of travellers
would prefer using a Global Positioning System navigational tool
(GPS) with
any car they rent. Four in five travellers find real advantages
in using in-car navigation while driving, as well as away from
the car (see pocket sized personal
navigation devices, that speak
directions, and street names). Furthermore, 86 percent of Americans
travelling to unfamiliar destinations
find
specific
turn-by-turn
directions
very helpful.
Portable in-car navigators give travellers
instant real-time, spoken directions through a convenient
portable handset. Directions to local restaurants, the
closest ATM, copy centers and service stations are quickly calculated
by these devices. Features of most portable in-car navigators include:
* A detour function, giving drivers the ability
to avoid the next one, five or ten kilometres of a congested roadway
- along with alternate
routes around delays.
* Even more specific spoken, turn-by-turn directions combining
street names and street numbers. For example, drivers will hear, "...in
400 metres, turn right into Cornwall Street",or simply "in 400
metres, turn right!"
* Automatic re-routing. Instead of pressing a button to calculate
a new route, the unit calculates new directions
when a driver makes a wrong turn.
Certainly, Johnny Appleseed GPS can help you
to make an intelligent choice.
In-Car
Navigation Tutorial
Adelaide
University offer a bachelor of science, with a focus on space
science and
astrophysics, that will form a basis for further research in these
fields. Andy Thomas, who became the first Australian in space,
was a student at Adelaide University.
For further information on the Adelaide
University courses and careers, please visit this site.
Geoscience
Australia (GA), in conjunction with their Earth Education Science
Centre, sponsor a focus week
every year. It is called Earth
Science Week, and promotes the hands-on
school activities, which GA provides for younger people.
GA can help get you started on planning
for celebration of Earth Science Week next year. Earth Science
Week is an international event, and its aim is to help people develop
an understanding of the importance, and impacts, of earth science
to every day life, as well as encouraging a sense of responsibility
for the use and protection of our natural resources and the environment.
Earth Science Week hopes to give students new opportunities to
discover the Earth sciences.
* To highlight the contributions that the Earth sciences make to society.
* To publicise the message that Earth science is all around us.
* To encourage stewardship of the Earth through an understanding of Earth
processes.
* To develop a mechanism for geoscientists to share their knowledge and enthusiasm
about the Earth and how it works.
* To have fun!
http://www.earthsciweek.org/
Science Week - August to October each year
- http://www.scienceweek.info.au/
World Trade Centre Hijackers used hand-held GPS
Published in The Australian, May 25-26 2002.
Owners of the copyright are The Times, AFP. Nicholas Wapshott · New
York, Giles Whittell ·Washington.
CREDIT card records of suicide hijacker Mohammed
Atta showed that he was in Manhattan the day before he crashed
an aircraft into the World Trade Centre.
The FBI believes that Atta, the leader of the 19
hijackers, was in New York to check the coordinates of the twin
towers which he then fed into a hand held electronic navigation
device. It was used so that the hijackers did not havc to rely
on the onboard navigation systems on the hijacked jets.
Investigators believe that the hijackers were too
inexperienced to have mastered the complex navigation systems on
th hijacked jets and relied on hand held global positioning system
devices to ensure the planes were on target to hit the twin towers
and the Pentagon. After visiting the Twin towers plaza, Atta left
New York for Boston, where he rented a blue Nissan car and drove
with Alomari to Portland Maine. The next day, 11 September 2001,
history was made.
GPS Information:
A US Presidential decree of 1
May 2000, relegated "selective
availability" (or the colloquial SA) to the garbage lot in
space. Prior to May 2000, civilian users of GPS could expect deliberate
errors in GPS position up to 100 metres. The
billion/s dollars+ system is now functioning as it was intended,
with accuracies below 10 metres in normal use. This makes GPS so
practical for many guidance and outdoor pursuits. And at such a
minimal cost to individuals!
The following explanation
of SA is borrowed, (with this acknowledgement) from the
website at Geoscience Australia, our national mapping and geodesy
agency.
Selective Availability was the deliberate degradation
by the US Defence Department of the GPS signal (through either
the predicted ephemeris and/or the timing).
* The generally available GPS signal is known as
the Standard Positioning Service (SPS). With SA turned on the specification
for SPS was 100 m horizontal and 156 m height at 95% confidence.
However, as SA was generally not fully applied users would often
experience about 50 m accuracy.
* Previously, the US Government had undertaken to
turn off Selective Availability (SA) by 2006
* At about 0400 UT on 1 May, SA was
turned off, by order of the President of the United States.
* Although the Presidential press release referred
to 10 m accuracy, the expectation was that the GPS SPS without
SA would provide results at 30 metres at 95% confidence.
* However, initial tests by AUSLIG
in Canberra with a hand-held GPS receiver (Garmin 12XL) indicate
a consistency and
accuracy at the 10 metre level. Preliminary tests with data from
several of AUSLIG's ARGN sites confirms this result, though there
are a very small number of results approaching 30 metres. (Johnny
Appleseed GPS note: As an added insight, a Garmin engineer told
me off the record in mid 2001, that their testing worldwide, indicated
average accuracies of 6.7 metres).
* This increased accuracy from comparatively inexpensive
hand-held GPS receivers ($300-$500) has many implications for recreation,
commercial and government applications.
Information on GPS conferences can be gained
by visiting http://www.gpsworld.com.
Johnny Appleseed GPS