About the Book
Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 216. Chapters: Global Positioning System, Shen Kuo, Compass, Tide, Rule of marteloio, Vessel monitoring system, North Pole, List of selected stars for navigation, Frame of reference, Latitude, GPS signals, Lighthouse, History of navigation, Dynamic positioning, Geographic coordinate system, Geodetic system, Longitude, Polynesian navigation, Northern Sea Route, Automotive navigation system, Telescope, History of longitude, Clipper route, Iberian nautical sciences, 1400-1600, Expedition Global Eagle, Celestial navigation, Animal navigation, Equator, Satellite navigation, Compass rose, Tide-predicting machine, Lightvessel, World Geodetic System, Nautical mile, Nautical chart, Cairn, Underwater navigation, Overview of Traffic Separation Schemes, GPS augmentation, Maritime pilot, Lunar distance (navigation), Hydrographic office, Dead reckoning, Circumnavigation, Sunstone (medieval), GPS-aided geo-augmented navigation, Underwater acoustic positioning system, Olfactory navigation, Roy Stanbrook, Nathaniel Bowditch, William Spencer (navigational instrument maker), Intercept method, International Ice Patrol, Electric beacon, Silva compass. Excerpt: The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a space-based satellite navigation system that provides location and time information in all weather, anywhere on or near the Earth, where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites. It is maintained by the United States government and is freely accessible to anyone with a GPS receiver. The GPS program provides critical capabilities to military, civil and commercial users around the world. In addition, GPS is the backbone for modernizing the global air traffic system. The GPS project was developed in 1973 to overcome the limitations of previous navigation systems, integrating ideas from several predecessors, including a number of classified engineering design studies from the 1960s. GPS was created and realized by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and was originally run with 24 satellites. It became fully operational in 1994. Advances in technology and new demands on the existing system have now led to efforts to modernize the GPS system and implement the next generation of GPS III satellites and Next Generation Operational Control System (OCX). Announcements from the Vice President and the White House in 1998 initiated these changes. In 2000, U.S. Congress authorized the modernization effort, referred to as GPS III. In addition to GPS, other systems are in use or under development. The Russian GLObal NAvigation Satellite System (GLONASS) was in use by only the Russian military, until it was made fully available to civilians in 2007. There are also the planned European Union Galileo positioning system, Chinese Compass navigation system, and Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System. The design of GPS is based partly on similar ground-based radio-navigation systems, such as LORAN and the Decca Navigator developed in the early 1940s, and used during World War II. In 1956, the German-American physicist Friedwardt Winterberg proposed a test of general relativity (for time slowing in a strong gravit
