Remember when people actually got lost when they were driving places? Those were the days before the invention of the handy little GPS ,Getting Places Speedily,Remember when people actually got lost when they were driving places? Those were the days before the invention of the handy little GPS
How it Works The acronym GPS stands for Global Position System. That GPS or navigation system in your car isn’t really a GPS though it’s a GPS receiver meaning it gets info from the real GPS. You might be surprised to learn that the GPS is comprised of 27 satellites in outer space arranged in such a way that at any given time anywhere on earth at least four are “visible” in the sky.
The job of your GPS receiver is to locate those satellites figure out how far away they are and then use that info to determine your exact location. The GPS satellites continuously send out high-frequency low-powered radio waves that your receiver picks up. Your receiver then measures the amount of time it took to get the signal from each satellite and determines your precise location. For this both the GPS and the receiver need their clocks synchronized to the nanosecond (one billionth of a second). Therefore each satellite is equipped with a powerful atomic clock and each receiver with a quartz clock. Both are super accurate.
Wow! A lot of info being transmitted from space to your device. Most GPS receivers can also trace your path across a map as you move. If the receiver is on it stays in constant communication with GPS satellites to see how your location is changing. With this information and its built-in clock the receiver can give you some valuable information such as:
Which inventor went all out (in space) to provide humanity with such a precise and detailed map of the earth? It must have cost billions of dollars. After all trips to space are very expensive and they require a lot of specialized research training and equipment.
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