GPS,
Air Force says that GPS situation is 'under control,' urges you to 'chill out'
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted May 21st 2009 4:32PM
posted May 21st 2009 4:32PM
Responding to a Government Accountability Office report that warns of major GPS failures as early as next year, U.S. Air Force Col. Dave Buckman has responded, saying: "No way! As if! The issue is under control." If anything, he said, "there's only a small risk we will not continue to exceed our performance standard." Whew, that's a relief... we don't know what we'd do without our Knight Rider GPS to keep us company on those long, lonely car rides.
[Via Pocket-lint]
[Via Pocket-lint]
Lmao @ chill out.
I was thinking more along the lines of "Lame-O @ chill out"
I sure hope this colonel wasn't lying. Of course he's probably betting on skynet to be deployed and ''fix the problem'' before the system goes down.
Well thats all fine and dandy but what about the Solar storms in 2012 that are SUPPOSEDLY going to wipe out all satellites?? lol
News organizations only look a maximum of 1 year ahead. When we get closer like a month before said event we may see some news.
World ends in 2012 anyway, so what does it matter? =P
someone has slowass internet...
The twitter heavy load whale fills me with happiness
Why does the Colonel sound like a 16 year old girl?
Because Colonel actually Twittered this whole conference. Gotta save money in the budget somehow, eh?
just about as dumb as people get. Good luck applying to McD, they might not accept you... Wear your cleanest tank top and jeans just to be sure.
how exactly does "we will not continue to exceed our performance standard" calm anyone down!? its not like GPS is SOOOO acurate these days, imagine it getting worst and worst. what will they tell us then, that its "our performance standard so why is everyone complaining?" get real people, if the hubble telescope that cost a bazillion $ is only going to work for another few years you think the GPS satelites will just stay online? As far as i know there are no plans to add any satelites to the networks and even the bum on my corner has a GPS to remind him where he like to pee and where he likes to sleep, it might not be next year, but its gonna crash at one point unless they add a few more of those fancy repeaters into space :)
I tried to read your post. I really did, but what with your avatar... And then you said "imagine it getting worst and worst". Now all I can think about is sausage.
The article says they plan to add a couple this year and next year
Didn't score too well on the whole reading comprehension part of those tests did we?
It clearly says the satellites are to be replaced on a rotating basis. Also, as far as I know, USAF has not missed any of its launch windows for any of the GPS satellites it has done. It is one of those things at the top of the to do list since DoD needs them a helluva lot more than you do my friend.
issue: Delays in the $5.8 billion program have occurred for a variety of reasons, the GAO report stated. Among them is consolidation among companies that supply GPS hardware to the Air Force.
The GAO report predicated only an 80 percent likelihood the Air Force would be able to maintain the full 24-satellite constellation over a period between 2010 and 2014. Going below 24 satellites could result in lower GPS performance, GAO said.
USAF reply: "We have 30+ satellites on orbit now. We'll launch another in Aug 09, and again early 10. Going below 24 won't happen," the Air Force said, counting on an improvement in its ability to get satellites into space.
You know if we lost gps the worst that would happen is that people will instead use their e-readers and in dash computers and pull up a map. If we did it with paper then a drop in service means youll just have to live without it...... Like in the 90s.....
As integrated as these things may be we can survive past them pretty easily.
Say whaaa?
But if people would _pay attention_, they'd notice that nobody's even suggesting GPS would go down; we're just talking about catching less satellites, in bad cases dropping to a 2D fix; unless your reception is so bad you commonly have a 2D fix *now*, it's not gonna mess with your car's navigation. It's obviously a potential issue for other uses, but as usual, gets hyped in non-logical ways.
3 minutes man. 3 minutes! Judging by your post history, you're probably connecting through a cell network?
The military uses these to aim their missiles. (Something useful, as it saves many lives, no need for carpet bombing.) So of course they will make sure it does not go down!
Yeah and the government uses money so of course there won't ever be a global economic crisis...
Well judging by the "accuracy" in Iraq. Maybe that's a sign these satellites are already dropping. :)
John, issues of that nature aren't due to ordinance guidance, but the fact that they were guided to the wrong spot - due to faulty or outdated intelligence.
Guided missiles have about a 50/50 chance of hitting their targets, false info or not.
even unguided missiles have a 50/50 chance, not sure where you pulled those numbers from but I bet they are to be handled with gloves.
One of the larger risks to GPS degradation or failure is the reliance on the GPS system for timing links for the telecommunications networks. There are backup physical links but there are an awful lot of "eggs in one basket" in this critical arena.
You only need one visible space vehicle (satellite) for time stamps. There's more danger to flight navigation, as you need four visible space vehicles. But unlike the GAO, I don't think the constellation is going down any time soon...
There's always the european system or the russian one in build-up.
Hmm, I really didn't read the article....I just like the picture of the cute whale.
Sigh...
The Fear Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD) that is coming from the GAO is more about politics than technology. There are 31 space vehicles (satellites) in orbit. It takes 24 space vehicles for world-wide coverage. In order to lose coverage, seven of the space vehicles would have to be inoperable. That's doubtful, as there's redundant technology on each space vehicle. Even if there are failures, there's brand new space vehicles ready to be launched to replace the ones that go down.
So why is the GAO creating FUD? Probably because they don't want any schedule slippage with GPS IIIA, which costs them more money...
No I don't think this is FUD in the classical sense, this is jut pointing out that there are effects of the global crisis and you need to keep on top of that, if companies that supply the equipment go down then you need to be forewarned and get a backup plan ready.
So yeah it does create a certain fear and doubt by pointing out uncertainties, but not as a vehicle to destroy the competition in this case I think.
@Wwhat
It's not classical FUD, but the end result is the same: spend money on us, not them. The GAO wants the money that's spent on the USAF overruns for their own pork projects...
Fail Whale?
Dont worry Europe will save the day with its more advanced Galileo GPS it should be active by 2013, & most probable costs half the price of the American system, the US Government & NASA are useless at making things simple & at cost, Europe has a massively smaller budget but can sometimes equal or do things better than NASA
Galileo is five years behind schedule and $3 billion over budget...
http://insidegnss.com/node/1426
They had more fights over the financing of the EU one than the USAF is likely to ever meet, and you know how red tape goes, that thing can sound as sure as anything but that still doesn't mean it's sure, once it hits the reality of building it up and keeping it running, and the raising cost and the diminishing interest/ability to finance it.
The Galileo Satellite Navigation Program is five years behind schedule and $3 billion over budget...
http://insidegnss.com/node/1426
C'mon europe doesn't have a good track record for space stuff, what have they ever achieved exactly? They can't even land anything on Mars without it exploding.
Russian GLONASS system is fully operational, also Russians seem to want a switch between all 3 systems to the same signal standart that way recievers would be able to use all three systems at the same time.
@Paul,
Your an idiot. Plus the next round of IIF sat's will be more advanced then Galileo. Not to mention there is no Galileo constellation until 2013...if that.
Actually, Paul, there's a reason GPS is run by the USAF - because it was originally a military application. It still is, they just allow civilian use.
It doesn't matter if other countries launch their own guidance systems; the US would still like its own system for national security reasons. They don't do GPS as some self-sacrificial social service as its primary reason for existence.
I just had to comment on this to tell Paul that he has his head up his ass. The Galileo project needs about 5 billion dollars in private investment to even continue as a viable project, and the suggestion that Europe is good with budgets is ludicrous. I didn't know GLONASS was active, that's pretty cool. I know saw that a company was working on a receiver that would use data from all three systems to attempt to achieve as fine a lock as possible. The US Military can target down to the centimeter with GPS, they just dont' allow us to use it to that accuracy.
This is probably due to Swine Flu. Damned Pigs.
You mean karl rove?
Don't panic as we slowly exit the building first.
I have Mr. T on my GPS from Navtones. He already told me to chill out because "I'm riding with Mr. T." He pity's those with out him.
Colour me unsurprised.
See...just like I said...nothing to worry about. Who the hell going to let the US military become blind. That will never happen.
I'm sure that's what craker boy meant, he's the first to comment using wi-fi on his craker a$$ mobile phone. Don't take that wrong..