NASA Pinning Down Where 'Here' is Better Than Ever
NASA's Jan McGarry (left)
and Stephen Merkowitz stand next to the Next-Generation Satellite Laser
Ranging (NGSLR) system, one of the ground stations that makes up the
quadrangle of instruments known as the Space Geodesy project, as it
peeks through the station's open dome. The NGSLR laser ranges to
Earth-orbiting satellites and to NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
McGarry leads the development of the NGSLR and Merkowitz is the project
manager for the Space Geodesy project. Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/Elizabeth
Zubritsky
|
February 23, 2012
Before our Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation devices can tell
us where we are, the satellites that make up the GPS need to know
exactly where they are. For that, they rely on a network of sites that
serve as "you are here" signs planted throughout the world. The catch
is, the sites don't sit still because they're on a planet that isn't at
rest, yet modern measurements require more and more accuracy in
pinpointing where "here" is.
MORE: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-049&cid=release_2012-049&msource=12049&tr=y&auid=10345736
gaw
Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
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