The advent of the modern Global Positioning System - or GPS - can most often be found on the dashboard of a car. So popular is this technologically advanced mapping system, that newer cars are even being designed with GPS included as a standard feature. But what many fail to realize is that GPS began as much more than a device used by the directionally challenged. GPS began as a revolutionary and promising piece of equipment designed by the United States Government.
The possibilities of GPS first began to materialize when Russia put Sputnik into space in 1957. Those following the travels of the spacecraft from the ground realized that they could track its progress based upon the strength of its radio signal; and this one fact opened up a whole new world of possibilities. The U.S. Navy was the first government faction to dabble in GPS; in the mid 1960's, they launched the Transit System - a system of six satellites that circled the earth and helped missile-carrying Navy submarines pinpoint their location. The United States Department of Defense designed and operated the first modern GPS; the first satellite was launched in 1978.
Today, this system includes the operation of 24 satellites that continually circle the earth and is used for a variety of functions that include GPS mapping, navigation, and tracking. With the assistance of these invisible satellites we can pinpoint our location, the location of someone else, or the location of a place we want to travel. What is more incredible is the size and compactness of such a system. The modern GPS can fit into the palm of your hand and yet holds enormous power.
GPS has literally transformed the world; and its possibilities for the future can not even be imagined. We can only wait and see what lies ahead for the evolution of GPS.
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