by Mark Ollig
Every
day, an estimated 1 billion people use the Global Positioning System (GPS)
satellites in orbit above the Earth.
These
satellites orbit our planet at an altitude of about 12,500 miles, and travel
approximately 8,700 mph.
Having
a personal GPS device is like having an intelligent, electronic navigational
roadmap companion.
In
our automobile, it visually (and audibly) updates us of our current location as
we travel to our destination.
The
GPS screen displays street graphics, points of interest, and provides us with
real-time navigational assistance.
A
variety of GPS devices are available; many include voice prompts,
text-to-speech, and voice recognition.
Three
common GPS civilian brands used are made by Garmin, Magellan, and TomTom.
I
found GPS devices range in price from about $100 to well over $1,000.
The
average GPS display screens are sized from about 4 to 7 inches. They are
available in portable handheld units, or they can be permanently wired into to
an automobile, or plugged into its AC adapter.
GPS
access is available in our mobile devices, too, as a navigational app. You can
even buy a GPS device to wear on your wrist.
Trucking
companies use GPS for tracking deliveries and determining pickup times. When an
order comes in, the dispatcher uses a computer to display a map listing
available delivery trucks, with detailed information on their status and
current location.
Most
communication networks, banking systems, financial markets, bank ATMs, and
power grids use GPS technology.
GPS
technology is implanted in practically every U.S. military resource, rendering
our armed forces more effective.
Originally,
GPS started out as being used exclusively for the US military.
That
changed in May 2000, when President Clinton ordered the US military to stop
scrambling the signals coming from the GPS satellite network. This allowed GPS
navigational information to become available for all of us.
This
action directly benefitted motorists, boaters, and hikers.
Of
course, 13 years later, GPS technology has found a variety of new uses.
“GPS-based
applications in precision farming are being used for farm planning, field
mapping, soil sampling, tractor guidance, crop scouting, variable rate
applications, and yield mapping. GPS allows farmers to work during low
visibility field conditions, such as rain, dust, fog, and darkness,” stated the
US government’s GPS website.
Crop
dustering planes equipped with GPS can fly precise, accurate lines over a crop
field; spraying chemicals only where needed.
Surveyors
use GPS technology to obtain accurate topography mappings.
GPS-based
data collection methods save time and labor. Today, a single surveyor using GPS
technology can accomplish, in one day, what had previously taken surveying
teams, using conventional surveying methods, weeks to do.
Other
benefits of the GPS includes providing emergency personnel with the information
needed to locate people in stranded vehicles equipped with a GPS device, or
even a lost hiker, using their mobile device’s embedded GPS functionality.
GPS
has become an integral part of today’s modern emergency response – whether
helping find people in search-and- rescue operations caused by floods or other
storm-related weather situations, or guiding emergency vehicles to a specified
location.
I
consider GPS as much a part of our technological infrastructure as the
Internet.
In
space, using GPS tracking instead of total reliance on ground-based radar is
another benefit.
“GPS
is transforming the way nations operate in space – from guidance systems for
the International Space Station’s return vehicle to the control of
communication satellites to entirely new forms of Earth remote sensing. When
all is said and done, the power and compass of this new tool will surely
surpass what we can imagine now,” said Dr. Tom Yunck, of the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory (JPL).
The
current GPS satellites in orbit have proved very beneficial – but they are
aging.
Newer
technology cannot be installed in these satellites.
Lockheed
Martin, an advanced technology maker, in cooperation with the US Air Force, is
creating the next generation of GPS satellites.
This
next generation of cutting-edge tracking satellites is called GPS III. They are
being assembled inside a newly-constructed facility in Denver, CO
GPS
III satellites will have three times the accuracy, more powerful signaling,
increased Earth coverage, and improved efficiencies for military and civilian
use.
These
new GPS satellites will incorporate programmable flexibility, so future
technology enhancements can be uploaded into them from the ground.
A
new onboard payload called “Search and Rescue GPS” will support global
search-and-rescue efforts.
Each
GPS III satellite measures a little over 8 feet wide, almost 6 feet deep, and
is a little over 11 feet high.
The
GPS III satellite will have 307 feet of deployable solar panel arrays; with two
panels being attached on each side.
Nickel-hydrogen
rechargeable batteries will power the satellite.
A
GPS III satellite can adjust its orbital course via its thrusters using a
100-pound liquid apogee engine.
The
GPS III satellites are to be placed 10,898 nautical miles above the Earth.
A
new international civil signal (L1C), designed to be interoperable with other
country’s global navigational satellite systems, will also be a part of GPS
III.
The
new satellites will be tracked and controlled while in orbit by a telemetry
tracking and command system on Earth.
The
new satellites are designed to last 15 years.
The
first GPS III satellite is scheduled to be launched in 2014.
About
32 new satellites are planned to be in orbit by 2019.
The
government’s official GPS website is packed with information, check it out at http://www.gps.gov.
