In April 2018, the Civil GPS Service Interface Committee (CGSIC) announced the Department of Homeland Security release of the memorandum titled “U.S. Owners and Operators Using GPS to Obtain Time,” which is intended to provide an understanding of the possible effects of the April 6, 2019, GPS Week Number Rollover on Coordinated Universal Time derived from GPS devices. GPS users... read more
Bell Helicopter unveiled a full-scale vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) air taxi vehicle during CES 2019, held in Las Vegas. The air taxi, named Bell Nexus, is powered by a hybrid-electric propulsion system and features Bell’s signature powered lift concept incorporating six tilting ducted fans designed to safely and efficiently carry passengers. Bell Nexus means the nexus of transport and technology and of... read more
A roundup of recent products in the GNSS and inertial positioning industry from the January 2019 issue of GPS World magazine. OEM RF front-end Application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) FOR GNSS NT1066 is a four-channel RF front-end ASIC (three wideband IQ and one narrowband IQ) that covers all GNSS (GLONASS, GPS, Galileo, BeiDou, QZSS, NavIC) signals at all frequency bands, so users benefit... read more
GPS Control Segment Sustainment II (GCS II) contract continues the modernization of the GPS Operational Control Segment (OCS). The U.S. Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin the GPS Control Segment Sustainment II (GCS II) contract to continue to sustain and further modernize the GPS constellation’s ground control system through 2025. This is a follow-on contract to Lockheed Martin’s current GCS contract,... read more
A new interactive app by Esri models the cumulative number of climate hazards likely to occur under different emissions scenarios for any place on Earth through 2100. The app visualizes the index of 11 hazards, including warming, drought, heatwaves, fires, precipitation, floods, storms, water scarcity, sea-level rise, and changes in natural land cover and ocean chemistry. Users can see how... read more
Elsewhere in this (January) issue you’ll find the hard facts — basic, but hard — concerning the inaugural launch of the long-awaited GPS III constellation. On pages 10 and 12, with some seasoned leavening between, on page 11. This column instead waxes briefly on the phenomenon of time, and humankind’s struggle to dominate it, to subject the fourth dimension to... read more
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