Mathematics and Global Positioning System

Ships at sea, planes in the air, surveyors on the ground, submarines under the sea, and thosands of others need to know exactly where they are on the earth. Thus, there was a need to create a navigational system that could give an accurate three-dimensional fix anywhere in the world. By the way, the system has to work in all weather conditions. This request for a new navigation technology was ordered by the Department of Defense in 1973. The Department envisioned a space-based, highly accurate, radio navigation system that would provide the latitude, longitude and altitude of any receiver in the world. The result was the Global Positioning System (GPS). Twenty years and twelve billion dollars later, the system is fully operational.