4 ms·

Thought one: wow, the fact that this was asked on a subreddit called "Ask Historians" really makes me feel old. Thought two: I've never considered how bizarre

by avalys 3y ago

Thought one: wow, the fact that this was asked on a subreddit called "Ask Historians" really makes me feel old. Thought two: I've never considered how bizarre it is that GPS is an enormously expensive satellite constellation launched and maintained by the United States military that we make available for free to the entire world. As a US citizen I take it for granted - but it must be strange for someone to grow up in (for instance) Lebanon and use a GPS device.

AstralStorm 3y ago
It was a very calculated decision - it made the others rely on US tech dominance, with the moment someone gets too uppity the P(Y) and M code encryption, and Selective Availability noisy mess on normal code gets turned on and only USA plus some advanced multiband tracking receivers get accurate location... For good 30 years the strategy generally worked so much that satnav got synonymous with GPS. Big players launched their own constellations anyway. GLONASS, Beidou and fledgling but accurate Galileo. And there are still more systems. So if GPS wasn't free manufacturers would use something else.
- sbierwagen 3y ago
  I'd say the calculated decision was making it available to civilians in the first place: >After Korean Air Lines Flight 007, a Boeing 747 carrying 269 people, was shot down by a Soviet interceptor aircraft after straying in prohibited airspace because of navigational errors,[42] in the vicinity of Sakhalin and Moneron Islands, President Ronald Reagan issued a directive making GPS freely available for civilian use, once it was sufficiently developed, as a common good. That's the neutral phrasing on Wikipedia. The actual announcement: https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/statement-deputy-press-secretary-speakes-soviet-attack-korean-civilian-airliner-1 https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/statement-depu... >In their recent statements on the Korean Air Lines tragedy, senior Soviet officials have shocked the world by their assertion of the right to shoot down innocent civilian airliners which accidentally intrude into Soviet airspace. Despite the murder of 269 innocent victims, the Soviet Union is not prepared to recognize its obligations under international law to refrain from the use of force against civilian airliners. World opinion is united in its determination that this awful tragedy must not be repeated. As a contribution to the achievement of this objective, the President has determined that the United States is prepared to make available to civilian aircraft the facilities of its Global Positioning System when it becomes operational in 1988. This system will provide civilian airliners three-dimensional positional information.
- ianburrell 3y ago
  The P(Y) and M encryption are always turned on, those are the military signals. SA can’t be turned back on, most of the satellites don’t support it. Also, it would be disaster to lose GPS accuracy worldwide since so many users depend on it. It would also be pointless because there are other constellations like Galileo and GLOSNAS. Plus, multiband receivers are getting more common to support the new L5 signal. GPS jamming and spoofing are more useful because they can be targeted to area. As is happening in Ukraine.
bojan 3y ago
I'd dare guess that a vast majority of people in Lebanon (or any other country for that matter) have no idea that GPS is basically a US military service. It's just something that works. I still remember my fascination with it when I got to use it for the first time, using a Garmin app on my Nokia 5800.

by avalys 3y ago

AstralStorm 3y ago

It was a very calculated decision - it made the others rely on US tech dominance, with the moment someone gets too uppity the P(Y) and M code encryption, and Selective Availability noisy mess on normal code gets turned on and only USA plus some advanced multiband tracking receivers get accurate location... For good 30 years the strategy generally worked so much that satnav got synonymous with GPS. Big players launched their own constellations anyway. GLONASS, Beidou and fledgling but accurate Galileo. And there are still more systems. So if GPS wasn't free manufacturers would use something else.

sbierwagen 3y ago
I'd say the calculated decision was making it available to civilians in the first place: >After Korean Air Lines Flight 007, a Boeing 747 carrying 269 people, was shot down by a Soviet interceptor aircraft after straying in prohibited airspace because of navigational errors,[42] in the vicinity of Sakhalin and Moneron Islands, President Ronald Reagan issued a directive making GPS freely available for civilian use, once it was sufficiently developed, as a common good. That's the neutral phrasing on Wikipedia. The actual announcement: https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/statement-deputy-press-secretary-speakes-soviet-attack-korean-civilian-airliner-1 https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/statement-depu... >In their recent statements on the Korean Air Lines tragedy, senior Soviet officials have shocked the world by their assertion of the right to shoot down innocent civilian airliners which accidentally intrude into Soviet airspace. Despite the murder of 269 innocent victims, the Soviet Union is not prepared to recognize its obligations under international law to refrain from the use of force against civilian airliners. World opinion is united in its determination that this awful tragedy must not be repeated. As a contribution to the achievement of this objective, the President has determined that the United States is prepared to make available to civilian aircraft the facilities of its Global Positioning System when it becomes operational in 1988. This system will provide civilian airliners three-dimensional positional information.
ianburrell 3y ago
The P(Y) and M encryption are always turned on, those are the military signals. SA can’t be turned back on, most of the satellites don’t support it. Also, it would be disaster to lose GPS accuracy worldwide since so many users depend on it. It would also be pointless because there are other constellations like Galileo and GLOSNAS. Plus, multiband receivers are getting more common to support the new L5 signal. GPS jamming and spoofing are more useful because they can be targeted to area. As is happening in Ukraine.

bojan 3y ago

I'd dare guess that a vast majority of people in Lebanon (or any other country for that matter) have no idea that GPS is basically a US military service. It's just something that works. I still remember my fascination with it when I got to use it for the first time, using a Garmin app on my Nokia 5800.