GPS back-up: World War Two technology employed

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-29758872

by keithpeter • 12 years ago

24 15 12 years ago

bbc.co.uk

ChuckMcM• 12 years ago

"In the event of a GPS failure." which probably means that either the world is at war again, or we've finally crossed the tipping point on space junk and everything in medium earth orbit (MEO or 12,500 miles) is now just a cloud of parts working its way into LEO as the orbits decay.

th0br0• 12 years ago

... or there's a hostile attack on your location that somehow manages to disturb GPS signals.

Osmium• 12 years ago

or a big solar flare or some other kind of space weather...

thrillgore• 12 years ago

Or the US deactivates GPS in your location. Which they can do.

alricb• 12 years ago

Or that you're in a location where GPS reception is difficult, like a city core, like eLoran proponents would likely remind you. Unfortunately, I think the ship sailed when the US decided to decommission its chain. Another weakness of Loran is that it's only available near the coasts (where precise navigation is a necessity for ships), so it won't help you in the middle of the ocean or in Las Vegas.

chatmasta2• 12 years ago

I'm surprised, given all the focus on surveillance, that nobody is talking about the fact that GPS is entirely controlled by the US government. [1]

Any time one of your devices contacts a GPS satellite, it's telling a system of satellites owned and maintained by the US government exactly where you are.

It does not seem at all far-fetched that some government "intelligence" agency is collecting, mining, and processing this data.

Please, if I'm wrong about the system being totally US-controlled, I would love to be corrected.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System

asadpanda• 12 years ago

GPS is a one way system. Receivers do not communicate back to the satellites, thus they do not tell the US government where you are.

chatmasta2• 12 years ago

Thanks, did not know that.

pronoiac• 12 years ago

While the satellites are US-controlled, the communication is strictly in one direction; your GPS listens, it doesn't broadcast. I mean, do you think that news anchors can watch you through your TV?

alistairSH• 12 years ago

Yes? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8537039

Someone• 12 years ago

Also, GPS has become a generic term, just like aspirin. There are quite a few alternative systems that provide the same functionality (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System#Oth...). Most aren't global, but the Russian one is, and the Chinese and EU ones are planned to be one.

Many phones can use GLONASS, the Russian system, so, for example, the 'GPS' in your iPhone or Lumia may not always be using the GPS system to compute your location.

shitehawk• 12 years ago

People, even allegedly technical ones, get amazingly confused.

sedachv• 12 years ago

Any time one of your devices contacts a GPS satellite, it's telling a system of satellites owned and maintained by the US government exactly where you are.

GPS receivers are just that. They do not transmit anything to the satellite.

GPS back-up: World War Two technology employed

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