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Satellite Glitch Rekindles GPS Concerns
coondoggie writes "News today that the Air Force is investigating signal problems with its latest Global Positioning System satellite is likely to rekindle the flames of a congressional report last month that said the current GPS coverage may not be so ubiquitous in the future.
The Air Force stated that routine early orbit checkout procedures determined that the signals from the Lockheed-built GPS IIR-2 (M), which was launched in March, were inconsistent with the performance of other GPS IIR-M satellites.
The Air Force said it has identified several parameters in the GPS IIR-20 (M)'s navigation message that can be corrected to bring the satellite into compliance with current GPS Performance Standards."
Ah, another fine product of American public education, I see. GPS satellites are property of the US military, specifically the Air Force. NASA is a bloated behemoth and should be chopped up and sold off to the private sector. Anyone who thinks that NASA has any interest in making space tourism affordable for the average Joe is willfully ignorant.
Also, note to Obongo: you're not going to be able to reason with a man who insists on dressing up as a James Bond villain for work every day (Kim Jong Il). Perhaps you'd better lay off those Missile Defense Shield spending cuts for a little while. Japan and South Korea would certainly appreciate it, and helping out our allies certainly will get us farther than groveling at the feet of our enemies as you are so fond of.