The Origin Of Everyday Thing - GPS (Global Positioning System)

The GPS, or Global Positioning System, is one of the hottest technologies around.I do recommend everyone should get one.I will not leave home without it if I had to drive for long distance or outside town.Well I am not good on remembering road anyway especially when I travel to Singapore.The common use of GPS is route tracking so we would not get lost.But there are other interesting function which you can find,like the nearest gas station,dinning,accommodation,parking and some came with video,music and additional future with reverse camera sensor.Wow! that really in did technology.So let find out how this new gadget work and how they came about?


 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:

1. "Where am I?"
2. "Where am I going?"
3. "Where are you?"
4. "What's the best way to get there?
5. "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!

                                          Satelllite use for tracking 

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':

1. The space segment now consists of 28 satellites, each in its own orbit about 11,000 nautical miles above the Earth.
2. The user segment consists of receivers, which you can hold in your hand or mount in your car.
3. 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.