About
The Global Positioning System (GPS), operated by the US Air Force, consists of 31 active satellites providing free, 24/7 positioning anywhere on Earth with accuracy to within 5 meters (civilian) or centimeters (military). It was fully operational in 1995 and made free to civilians by President Clinton in 2000, when selective availability (intentional accuracy degradation) was turned off.
GPS underpins aviation, shipping, agriculture, emergency services, financial transactions (timestamps), and smartphone navigation. Its economic value exceeds $1 trillion annually. The system requires continuous corrections for relativistic effects predicted by Einstein — GPS is one of the few technologies that would break without general relativity.
# Top 10 GPS facts
- 1GPS would fail within hours without corrections for Einstein's theory of relativity — general relativity is used daily
- 2President Clinton turned off intentional GPS degradation in 2000, improving civilian accuracy from 100m to 5m
- 3GPS economic value exceeds $1 trillion annually — it's provided completely free by the US military
Fascinating Facts
- ◆GPS would fail within hours without corrections for Einstein's theory of relativity — general relativity is used daily
- ◆President Clinton turned off intentional GPS degradation in 2000, improving civilian accuracy from 100m to 5m
- ◆GPS economic value exceeds $1 trillion annually — it's provided completely free by the US military
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