{"id":2017807,"date":"2023-08-31T08:04:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-31T12:04:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-american-soldiers-invented-gps-on-labor-day-weekend-in-1973\/"},"modified":"2023-08-31T08:16:21","modified_gmt":"2023-08-31T12:16:21","slug":"how-american-soldiers-invented-gps-on-labor-day-weekend-in-1973","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-american-soldiers-invented-gps-on-labor-day-weekend-in-1973\/","title":{"rendered":"American soldiers invented GPS over Labor Day weekend in 1973."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhow-american-soldiers-invented-gps-on-labor-day-weekend-in-1973%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2017807&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>With the letters \u200cGPS, we instantly recognize an innovation that has revolutionized \u200bour lives. \u200bThe concept was born half a century ago in\u2062 a sweltering room at\u2063 the Pentagon \u2064over Labor Day weekend in 1973.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the genesis of the concept for a constellation of platforms orbiting the Earth, transmitting radio signals\u200c to determine location. Many years of calculation, experiment, \u2062and miniaturization led to the Navigation Signal Timing\u200b and Ranging (NAVSTAR) satellites that \u2062became known as the Global Positioning System (GPS).<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1184799855\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-0630cd4d2556d6fdf72c10c891c11973 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-0630cd4d2556d6fdf72c10c891c11973\"><\/div>\n<p>The dedication \u200band intellect of the\u2064 engineers, scientists, and technicians involved \u200bled the\u200b way to worldwide freedom from getting lost \u200c\u2014 and governments\u2019 ability to always know where you are if you\u2019re carrying a phone.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ancient\u200b and Medieval Navigation Techniques<\/h2>\n<p>Ancient and medieval navigation \u2062employed a variety of techniques, depending on opportunity:\u2063 piloting, celestial mapping, and dead reckoning as \u200da last resort. A pilot could recognize geographical markers, such as \u200brivers, mountains, coasts, and light-houses, along with smaller landmarks. However, these references were unavailable in open water.<\/p>\n<p>Assuming an initial location, dead reckoning involved calculating one\u2019s current\u200b position based on direction heading, estimated speed, and elapsed time. The\u2064 sun, moon, and stars serve as regular bright\u2063 objects at sea for\u200b such navigation. Unfortunately, cloud \u200bcover obscures these, as occurred in storms when dead reckoning was\u200d at its \u2064most\u2063 perilous.<\/p>\n<p>For \u200cthe northern\u200b hemisphere, the pole star\u200c offers an arrow towards the Arctic. Today, Polaris in Ursa \u200bMinor holds this position. Due to the Earth\u2019s\u2063 precession, this honor belonged to Thuban in Draco during the construction of the Giza pyramids. In \u206312 millennia, the north pole\u200b will point towards the star Vega. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-2953dea6b7db1da14f0131f3a633a9c9 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-2953dea6b7db1da14f0131f3a633a9c9\"><\/div>\n<p>From the north, Earth\u2019s axis points to \u200ca position in the sky\u2063 that turns counter-clockwise\u2063 in a circle across 26 millennia, as illustrated in\u200b the star chart below.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters body-xs m-0\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-4\">Wikimedia \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Precession_N.gif\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Tau\u2019olunga <\/a>with added labels \u200b\/ \u200c <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/2.5\/deed.en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CC\u2062 by SA 2.5<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Due to the moon\u2019s gravitational \u200dinfluence,\u2062 the Earth\u2019s\u2064 rotational axis wobbles as \u200ba \u200ctoy spinning top. This compounds all \u200cthe other navigational challenges. <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Navigation Miscalculations Can Kill<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Using stars to \u200bnavigate sometimes led to tragic consequences. In late autumn\u2062 1707, the Royal Navy sailed 21 gunships from Gibraltar to Portsmouth. While voyaging \u200csouth \u200cof Ireland, the fleet encountered inclement weather \u200bon approaching England. Navigation error caused four of the ships to founder at the Isles of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Scilly_naval_disaster_of_1707\">Scilly<\/a>, while two\u200c others suffered\u200b damage.<\/p>\n<p>This naval \u200cdisaster cost almost 2,000\u200c sailors their lives and prompted Parliament to commission a \u200breward for determining longitude more\u2064 accurately. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-d20e106625ffe0156a17b9fc5967f352 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-d20e106625ffe0156a17b9fc5967f352\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters body-xs m-0\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-4\">Wikimedia \u200c\/\u2062 <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Scilly_naval_disaster_1707_Track.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Kognos <\/a>\/ <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/deed.en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CC BY SA 4.0<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Medieval nautical advancements included charts to\u200b plot courses, cross-staffs, and astrolabes for converting to latitude, sandglasses to mark time, and magnetic compasses to align direction, especially in cloud cover. \u2064The\u2062 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-american-soldiers-invented-gps-on-labor-day-weekend-in-1973\/\" title=\"American soldiers invented GPS over Labor Day weekend in 1973.\">mid-<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-trumps-lawyers-offer-former-presidents-answer-to-impeachment-article-on-incitement-of-insurrection\/\" title=\"BREAKING: Trump\u2019s Lawyers Offer Former President\u2019s Answer To Impeachment Article On Incitement Of Insurrection\">19th century<\/a> introduced sextants<\/a>. Seaworthy chronometers became affordable in the 19th century.<\/p>\n<p>Gyroscopic inertial guidance and radio reception\u2063 were adopted in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-introduces-bill-to-decriminalize-psychedelic-drugs\/\" title=\"California Introduces Bill To Decriminalize Psychedelic Drugs\">early 20th century<\/a>. Both principles improved with electronic miniaturization, then when supplemented\u2064 with echolocation like sonar and radar.<\/p>\n<p>Employing such tools in\u200c any era requires training and skill. Yet even these modern tools yield errors. That includes\u2062 in 1983, when \u2063passenger\u2062 flight KAL-007 strayed \u200cinto Soviet airspace, where it was shot down with the loss of \u2064all lives aboard.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Beginnings \u200dof Satellite Positioning<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>So how did that all change? A few days \u200cafter the Soviet Union launched Sputnik a few hundred miles above \u2064the Earth\u2019s\u2063 surface, scientists at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory \u2063realized the satellite could \u200bbe tracked\u2062 from the ground \u200cmerely\u200b by the radio signals its transmitters emitted\u200b by exploiting the \u2064 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jhuapl.edu\/Content\/techdigest\/pdf\/V18-N02\/18-02-Guier.pdf\">Doppler<\/a> shift as it passed.<\/p>\n<p>In August 1966, the U.S. Air Force submitted proposal 621B to\u200d engage these principles in reverse: using the satellite to locate a ground position, such as for search-and-rescue operations. Although useful for military use, that was not economically scalable. It also required \u2064an enormous quantity of satellites for global coverage from low-Earth orbit.<\/p>\n<p>Then over Labor Day weekend in 1973, a group of U.S. Air Force officers led by Col.\u200c Bradford Parkinson met in empty \u200dPentagon rooms\u2064 to bring \u2063this <a href=\"https:\/\/content.u-blox.com\/sites\/default\/files\/the_origins_of_gps.pdf\">idea to fruition<\/a>. Ground receivers had to\u200c be passive, with no feedback to the transmitters in orbit. The system had to operate worldwide. Intersection from four separate signal emitters within the\u2064 line-of-sight would correspond to a single receiver location.<\/p>\n<p>Measuring\u2062 the time elapsed can \u200ccalculate the distance between the satellite and the receiver. Depending on these time delays,\u200d the intersection of the spheres corresponds\u2062 to the receiver\u2019s\u2063 location, allowing <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Trilateration\">trilateration<\/a> plus \u2062time \u200doffset to compensate for the receiver\u2019s temporal inaccuracy. The convergence in this example points \u200dto a location in northern Europe.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters body-xs m-0\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-4\"><a href=\"https:\/\/openclipart.org\/detail\/191659\/gps-satellites-trilateration\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Openclipart <\/a>\/ public domain with author\u2019s modifications<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Configuring GPS<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The Atlas booster then \u200cavailable constrained \u2062the payload mass \u2064for\u200c reaching \u2062medium \u2063orbit. The\u2062 teams chose a constellation of at least 24 platforms with 12-hour orbital \u200bpasses at 12,500-mile\u2063 altitude to satisfy payload requirements, \u2063mapped\u2063 into six orbital planes with four\u200c or five\u200d satellites per plane.<\/p>\n<p>To distinguish multiple satellites operating on the same frequency, James Spilker at \u2063the company Aerospace \u2062created code division multiple \u200daccess, or <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Code-division_multiple_access\">CDMA<\/a>. This technique assigns a \u200cparticular identifier to each transmitter.<\/p>\n<p>Richard Schwartz and Hugo Fruehauf at Rockwell miniaturized and radiation-hardened rubidium vapor <a href=\"https:\/\/tf.nist.gov\/general\/pdf\/2294.pdf\">oscillators<\/a> to serve as the NAVSTAR <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/p2BxAu6WZI8\">atomic clocks<\/a>. These achievements \u200dfrom Air Force,\u2064 Rockwell, and Aerospace\u200d teams are summarized in the <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Z5N4CqJLAhQ\">Lonely Halls<\/a> documentary.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Fixing What\u200d Went\u200b Wrong with the Concept<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Sources of errors for this plan abounded. Among these included <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC5253894\/pdf\/41114_2016_Article_1.pdf\">space-time dilation<\/a>, revealed \u200dby Albert \u2063Einstein in 1905 and 1915. Due to special relativity, \u200bthe NAVSTAR satellite\u2019s orbital speed of 2.4 miles per second \u200bdecelerates the clocks by seven microseconds per day. <\/p>\n<p>By contrast, general relativity speeds up those same\u2063 clocks by 45 microseconds per day due to \u2063the GPS \u200csatellite\u2019s\u200c greater distance from the Earth\u2019s core. That reduces that gravitational influence compared\u200c to the \u200bsurface.<\/p>\n<p>Together, failure to compensate for these effects induces an error of more than six \u200cmiles per day. So \u200dbefore launch, the satellite clocks are slowed down by \u20640.000000045 \u200cpercent to synchronize with ground stations.<\/p>\n<p>Additional sources of error include\u200b free electrons in the ionosophere, \u200d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S1877050916304835\">Sagnac distortion<\/a>, and Earth\u2019s axis perturbations called the\u2063 Chandler wobble. GPS\u200b compensates for these by incorporating two separate transmit frequencies, calibrated \u2062against each \u200cother, as well as atmospheric modeling and\u200d coordinate transformation \u2062between transmitter and receiver.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>GPS Finally\u200d Launches<\/strong> in the 1970s<\/h2>\n<p>Led by Roger Easton, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nrl.navy.mil\/Media\/News\/Article\/2578456\/father-of-gps-and-pioneer-of-satellite-telemetry-and-timing-inducted-into-natio\/\">Naval Research Laboratory<\/a> developed a pair of proof-of-concept \u2062satellites to test time-based navigation. These were launched in 1974 and 1977.<\/p>\n<p>Starting in February 1978\u200b and continuing until October 1985, the Air Force launched 10 prototype Block-I \u200dNAVSTAR satellites aboard Atlas F rockets for testing. From February 1989 through November 1997, \u2064it launched nine Block-II and \u200c19 Block-IIA by Rockwell aboard Delta-II rockets (after the\u2064 exclusion of\u2063 the Space Shuttle). This formed the initial GPS constellation.<\/p>\n<p>Today, 31 GPS satellites remain\u200c operational, not counting four\u2062 reserve or spare\u200b platforms. Various improvements \u2062have been incorporated.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout their development,\u200c GPS satellites have shared common features. Shown below\u2063 is the <a href=\"https:\/\/aerospace.org\/article\/brief-history-gps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Block-II configuration<\/a>, weighing about one ton (about double\u200b the prototype Block-I). Louvers\u200b on \u2063the side \u2064dissipate excess heat via thermal radiation to maintain consistent internal temperature. Attitude thrusters adjust satellite orientation. Photovoltaic \u200dsolar arrays\u2063 convert sunlight into electrical power.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters body-xs m-0\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-4\"><a href=\"https:\/\/aerospace.org\/article\/brief-history-gps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Aerospace <\/a>\/ fair\u2062 use\u2063 with author\u2019s \u200dadditions<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>From Concept to Millions of Uses Every Day<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Despite resistance from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/vets-battle-critical-race-theory-invasion-of-military\/\" title=\"Vets Battle Critical Race Theory Invasion of Military\">top military brass<\/a>, many <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-mocked-trump-for-hiding-in-his-bunker-after-antifa-and-black-lives-matter-insurrectionists-tried-to-storm-the-white-house-last-year-injuring-dozens-of-cops\/\" title=\"Biden Mocked Trump for \u2018Hiding in His Bunker\u2019 After Antifa and Black Lives Matter Insurrectionists Tried to Storm the White House Last Year, Injuring Dozens of Cops\">service personnel<\/a> during the first Gulf War \u2063in 1991 requested their families send\u200b them civilian GPS receivers. Then the Defense Department began equipping personnel \u200cand road vehicles\u200b with ruggedized receivers.<\/p>\n<p>Initially, the GPS signal was degraded for non-decrypted receivers, limiting its public acceptance. In May 2000, the government discontinued\u2063 this\u200d policy, opening commercial navigation opportunities. Now, everyone can find his location within seven\u200d feet anywhere \u2064on the globe.<\/p>\n<p>In\u2064 February 2019, four of the primary <a href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/learn-the-history-of-gps-from-its-founders\">contributors<\/a> to GPS were <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/7CH_fmO-QO8\">honored<\/a> with the <a href=\"https:\/\/qeprize.org\/winners\/the-global-positioning-system\">Queen Elizabeth Prize<\/a> for Engineering. These men\u2019s achievement serves all mankind, yet is so often taken for granted.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters body-xs m-0\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-4\"><a href=\"https:\/\/qeprize.org\/winners\/event-gallery\/qeprize-winner-announcement-2019\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Queen Elizabeth Prize<\/a> \/ fair use<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Our society has been \u200cblessed with \u200drare and precious genius that has combined across centuries to yield the civilizational achievements we enjoy today. \u2062Orbital mechanics originated from careful geometric analysis by Johannes \u2063Kepler in the 17th century. Two centuries later, electromagnetism was empirically measured by Michael Faraday and mathematically characterized by James \u200bClerk Maxwell.<\/p>\n<p>Atomic oscillation \u2064arose from the\u200b quantized radiation law Max Planck \u2064discovered, while Albert \u2062Einstein discovered relativistic effects, both in the early 20th century. These were the giants on whose shoulders later scientists\u2062 and engineers stood to build their guideposts in\u2062 the heavens.<\/p>\n<p>While only a tiny fraction of the electorate understands\u2062 the enormity of \u200dgovernment waste, fraud, and abuse, now and then we learn of some extraordinary achievements underwritten with your tax dollars. GPS is one of them.<\/p>\n<p>When \u200byou travel to visit relatives at Thanksgiving and\u200c Christmas, remember the \u200bfleet of \u200bbeacons helping get you there, and the outstanding technical pioneers who\u200d made that \u200dfeat possible.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-752381e1e3f4df766204ed1b30663f60 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-752381e1e3f4df766204ed1b30663f60\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The GPS acronym signifies a life-altering innovation. Its genesis traces back to a hot Pentagon room during Labor Day weekend in 1973. The concept birthed there envisioned Earth-orbiting platforms transmitting radio signals to determine location. This revolutionary idea has forever transformed our lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1618,"featured_media":2017808,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2017807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2017807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1618"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2017807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2017807\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2017808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2017807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2017807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2017807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}