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The Global Positioning System The Path From Research to Human Benefit (1996) / Chapter Skim
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It Started with Basic Research...
Pages 3-4

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From page 3...
... Adapted frown The Washington Post The history of GPS is an account of how basic research, in particular the creation of atomic clocks to study relativity and Einstein's physics, led first to a vital defense technology and then to a variety of important commercial applications. It is the story of how the quest for understanding the nature of the atomic world led to the creation of highly accurate clocks and how those were later put to use, in combination with satellite navigation technology, to satisfy the basic human desire to know where we are and where we are going.
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From page 4...
... By analyzing the radio signals transmitted by the satellites in essence, measuring the Doppler shifts of the signals a submarine could accurately determine its location in 10 or 15 minutes. creation of atomic variety of important In 1973, the Department of Defense was looking for a foolproof method of satellite navigation.
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Key Terms

  • satellite navigation
  • vital defense
  • atomic clocks
  • gps receivers
  • defense technology

  • radio signal
  • lincoln laboratory
  • study relativity
  • essential components
  • companies increasingly

  • satellite builders
  • accurate clocks
  • signal increased
  • basic human
  • reference clocks

  • highly accurate
  • day weekend
  • accurately determine
  • gps time
  • continuously broadcasts

  • physics laboratory
  • satellites built
  • digital radio
  • navigation technology
  • weekend produced

  • orbit precisely
  • clocks directly
  • track forest
  • rockwell international
  • atomic world


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