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Article: Global Positioning System
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Copyright informationCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Global Positioning System
Most people have been lost at one time or another, but what if it were possible to know where you are, anywhere on Earth, 24 hours a day? The Global Positioning System (GPS) can give that information, and it is free to anyone with the proper equipment and a basic knowledge of mathematics.
In the 1980s, the U. S. Department of Defense designed GPS to provide the military with accurate, round-the-clock positional information. Twenty-seven satellites orbiting over 10,000 miles above Earth regularly send information back to Earth. A small piece of equipment, called a GPS receiver, uses this information to compute its position to within a few yards. GPS receivers ...