电子与 及通信工程专业英语Unit 7 GPS.pptVIP

;　　1．What is GPS?　　GPS, which stands for Global Positioning System, is the only system today able to show your exact position on the Earth anytime, in any weather, anywhere [1]. GPS satellite, 24 in all, orbit 11,000 nautical miles above the Earth. They are continuously monitored by ground stations located worldwide. The satellites transmit signals that can be detected by anyone with a GPS receiver. Using the receiver, you can determine your location with great precision.;　　2．What is navigation?　　Since prehistoric times, people have been trying to figure out a reliable way to tell where they are and to help guide them to where they are going. Cavemen probably used stones and twigs to mark a trail when they set out hunting for food. The earliest mariners followed the coast closely to keep from getting lost. When navigators first sailed into the open ocean, they discovered they could chart their course by following the stars. The ancient Phoenicians used the North Star to journey from Egypt and Crete. According to Homer, ;the goddess Athena told Odysseus to “keep the Great Bear on his left” during his travels from Calypso’s Island. Unfortunately, the stars are only visible at night and only on clear nights.　　The next major developments in the quest for the perfect method of navigation were the magnetic compass and the sextant. The needle of a compass always points north, so it is always possible to know in what direction you are going. ;The sextant uses adjustable mirrors to measure the exact angle of the stars, moon, and sun above the horizon. However, in the early days of its use, it was only possible to determine latitude (the location on the Earth measured north or south from the equator) from the sextant observations. Sailors were still unable to determine their longitude (the location on the Earth measured east or west) . This was such a serious problem that in the 17th century, the British formed a special Board of Longitude consisting of well-known scientis