Ground stations are the control segment of GPS. Five unmanned ground stations around the Earth monitor the satellites. Information from the stations is sent to a master control station — the Consolidated Space Operations Center (CSOC) at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado — where the data is processed to determine each satellite’s ephemeris and timing errors.
An ephemeris is a list of the predicted positions of astronomical bodies such as the planets or the Moon. Ephemerides (the plural of ephemeris) have been around for thousands of years because of their importance in celestial navigation. Ephemerides are compiled to track the positions of the numerous satellites orbiting the earth.
The processed data is sent to the satellites once daily with ground antennas located around the world. This is kind of like syncing a personal digital assistant (PDA) with your personal computer to ensure that all the data is in sync between the two devices. Because the satellites have small built-in rockets, the CSOC can control them to ensure that they stay in a correct orbit.
An ephemeris is a list of the predicted positions of astronomical bodies such as the planets or the Moon. Ephemerides (the plural of ephemeris) have been around for thousands of years because of their importance in celestial navigation. Ephemerides are compiled to track the positions of the numerous satellites orbiting the earth.
The processed data is sent to the satellites once daily with ground antennas located around the world. This is kind of like syncing a personal digital assistant (PDA) with your personal computer to ensure that all the data is in sync between the two devices. Because the satellites have small built-in rockets, the CSOC can control them to ensure that they stay in a correct orbit.
No comments:
Post a Comment