Bush to consider shutting down GPS in extreme emergency

Isn't the problem of the owners of GPS. The users of GPS don't pay for
it, and they get what they pay for.


Juergen Nieveler

 

Not me, for example. Nor anybody not living or paying taxes in the USA.

You might have a case if the company that might get crippled is in the
USA, but I doubt the Pentagon will think twice about some european
company, or some farmers in Africa.


Juergen Nieveler

 

Our company has a contract that says in case of downtime our
connectivity will be restored within 8 hours.

Don't know the specifics of the contract for electricity, but it's well
below 4 hours IIRC. Plus, in case of work on our power substation, we
get sufficient advance notice to rent a large diesel generator to keep
the IT department up and running.

Hospitals tend to have enough electricity generating capacity to go for
several days without external power, and they also have enough water
stored for some time. Even after huge natural disasters, hospitals are
supposed to keep working.

In times of crisis, people get told to keep a small stockpile of food
at home.

Just like Internet access, companies tend to have tight contracts about
how to handle outages

Stockpiles again

For the industrial users, there are either contracts handling it, or
they even have their own water wells. BTST.

Just HOW can you run out of air? ;-)

Indeed. And in case something fails that you won't get a guaranteed
repair time for, you'll have to have an alternative for it.

Juergen Nieveler

 

People tried not too long ago, remember? GWB is still in the White
House ;-)


Juergen Nieveler

 

Now compare what a mapping GPS with Bluechart costs compared to a
complete set of nautical charts for the same area. Ouch!

Steve

 

The Pentagon is not a sovereign state; it works for the civilian
population. And it does whatever it is told to do.

You talk about the Pentagon as if it were some sort of foreign invader.
The Pentagon is nothing more than a group of civil servants, sworn to do
as they are told.

Actually, Congress can stop it also, by not signing the checks.

The United States owns GPS, not the Secretary of Defense.

 

Such as?

 

It's a problem for the Pentagon just as it is for everyone else.

The Pentagon pays bills, follows the laws of physics, and uses the
toilet just like everyone else. You may be confusing it with Mount
Olympus or the Land of Oz.

 

Some did, but they were not a clear majority.

 

There are always more than enough of them visible to get a fix,
everywhere on the planet.

 

Not nearly as easily, but he can get the job done, in time, and perhaps
with a few errors.

Yes, that's exactly how they did it.

So they don't care what happens to civilians? With friends like that,
who needs enemies?

What about civilians--their masters?

No, the state owns GPS. The Pentagon operates it, in part.

The Pentagon does what it is told. If Congress told it to turn over the
GPS to Wal-Mart tomorrow, it would do so.

You seem to attribute godlike characteristics to the Pentagon. It's
just a building filled with government employees.

 

Can you prove that no lives would be lost by shutting it down? The
burden of proof is upon the party wanted to shut down critical national
infrastructure.

 

You don't need one. You take a series of GPS fixes over a long period.
The average is your true position.

The time and cost.

 

You make the observations using GPS.

 

It's not their job to worry about Europeans or Africans.

 

No, they didn't. Very often they got lost and died at sea if they
ventured too far from land.

Only because accurate navigation is possible today. In the
not-so-distant past, getting lost was the number one problem.

 

Don't forget the batteries ;-)

Juergen Nieveler

 

So? If Washington hadn't been lucky, you'd still be a british colony.


Juergen Nieveler

 

But that luck is history. It's the future that counts.

 

One satellite will provide (nonprecise) timing data

Two satellites with altitude and timing augmentation will
provide a 2-D position and velocity

See: http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pubs/gps/gpsuser/gpsuser.pdf