GPS Tracking

Rocket Launch Key to Next Generation GPS

Mission accomplished.

Ares 1-X, NASA’s first rocket in its “new frontier” Constellation space exploration program, rose from its launch pad and pierced the sky Oct. 28 at Kennedy Space Center, FL – buoying hopes that the door had been flung open to a great future in deep space exploration.

The United States had a tall order for the 1.8 million pound, 327-foot-tall spacecraft, and it delivered.  The test rocket represents a future space transportation system that will carry astronauts and possibly tourists on journeys to the International Space Station, to the moon, Mars and beyond.

The Ares 1-X is also the model for a vehicle that will literally launch the next generation of GPS radio navigation satellites into orbit and help repair and modify the 24 satellites already existing in the U.S. Department of Defense system.

The super spacecraft is new and experimental in many ways. Among its features, it runs on oxygen and liquid methane fuel instead of traditional fuels, called hypergolic propellants. The oxygen-methane combo is readily available, costs less, weighs less and is less toxic on the environment. This creates hope that the new-age spacecraft will be capable of going further into orbit and greatly multiply the length of time it can house and sustain human life.

On her six-minute flight, Ares 1-X recorded a library of data that, once analyzed, will be used to improve the design and safety of future spacecraft. The soundness of the structure and hardware were tested. The software recorded motor burn time, ignition, speed, thrust, pressure, payload limits, even the drag and the pull of the main parachute.

The second happy ending to the Ares 1-X story is the difference it will make in the 20-year-old U.S. Department of Defense GPS radio navigation system. The GPS network has been maintained by the Air Force since the 1990s. The constellation of 24 satellites, while still entirely functional and serviceable, occasionally need assistance, repair and modification and one by one will eventually be taken out of service and replaced with more technologically advanced models.

This is due to an ever-increasing demand – from the military as well as civilian worlds – for GPS tracking and navigation services and advances in GPS tracking technology. Improved signal transmission and location readings are certainly on the horizon.

Ares or her offspring will likely be the delivery vehicles for this new technology.

“NASA’s Ares1-X launch vehicle is a significant development for GPS integrators and users,” said Steven Moehling, Vice President of Sales for LandAirSea Systems, a leading provider of GPS vehicle tracking software, systems and accessories. “This demonstrates NASA’s commitment to the space program as well as the proposed GPS modernization program.”

The government is concerned about our GPS satellites becoming outdated. To keep the system running smoothly, Congress authorized a planned modernization. The 2000 action and resulting project were dubbed GPS III.

The project involves new equipment (satellites and ground stations) and better service (accuracy and accessibility of signals).

The U.S. GPS tracking system is, and has been, the dominant player in satellite navigation, so it is necessary to stay on the cutting edge of the technology. Historically, all countries have been dependent on the U.S. Department of Defense satellite system.

Yet, other countries are working on their own, alternative national satellite tracking and navigation systems.  Would-be challengers:

• Russia, in cooperation with India, has been working since the 1980s on its own satellite navigation system called the Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS.)
• The European Union and European Space Agency (ESA) have their own system called Galileo, with China and numerous other countries as partners.

Neither are yet operational.

Satellite navigation is crucial for any application where location information is needed. It is precise and reliable. In today’s military operations, much of warfare planning, training and strategy are done on a network level. Even on the civilian side, GPS tracking and navigation has become a staple of everyday life.

A next wave of satellites is due eventually, to eliminate blackouts and failures of service. The NASA Ares 1-X flight might be the hope and assurance America needs, that the GPS system will not fall into disrepair.

A northwest Ohio woman returned to a grave site one too many times, to pilfer mementos. A vehicle tracking device tucked neatly inside a toy car and placed near a tombstone led police to her stash of stolen goods.

Sandra Lilly discovered that items she placed on the grave of her 18-year-old son in Williamstown Cemetery had been taken, so she called police. Police took the report, commenting that the same crime had apparently occurred to other grieving families.

Grant County Sheriff Chuck Dills gave the mother a vehicle tracking device. Vehicle tracking devices are GPS tracking receivers, usually placed in cars and trucks. Real-time vehicle tracking systems allow a user to pinpoint an object’s exact location, from a remote computer.

In this case, the GPS tracking unit worked on a mini version of a car. The mother hid it inside the box of a toy muscle car Camaro, then placed it on her son Josh’s grave. The thief took the bait, not knowing that there was a vehicle tracking device attached. The police chief got the report and found out where the stolen toy car was, following it on a map from his laptop.

The GPS tracking device was found inside a minivan owned by 48-year-old Kimberly Goodrich. The vehicle was full of other items that appeared to be stolen from the cemetery. Goodrich was on probation from a theft in Boone County, Ohio.

GPS tracking devices come in two versions: passive vehicle tracking logs an object’s movements for later download and review; and real-time vehicle tracking lets the viewer see where the receiver is minute by minute, almost as it happens. Real-Time GPS tracking is best for theft recovery.

As GPS tracking hardware is becoming smaller, lighter and less costly, consumers are thinking of new ways to use them besides vehicle tracking. Protecting assets other than cars and trucks from theft, is a quickly growing application. Vehicle tracking products have been placed on cargo shipments, furniture, artwork and all sorts of recreational vehicles.

GPS tracking systems are really becoming quite common, said Sheriff Dills. He said that if a thief takes something that doesn’t belong to him, there’s a good chance someone will be sitting at a desk on their computer, or a Web-enabled cell phone, trying to find it with GPS tracking.

Source: Breitbart.tv

A British Public Service Announcement is an Internet sensation, causing shock waves across the globe because of the graphic way it treats the issue of teen driving and texting.

Millions of people all over are twittering, texting and engaging in simple “Have you seen…” conversation about the four-minute teen driving video posted on YouTube

In it, three young women are in a car. When the teen driving types a message in her cell phone about a friend’s new crush, she drifts into the opposing lane and initiates a chain reaction of horrific accidents. The multi-camera shoot, of professional quality, looks shockingly authentic, from the moment of bloody impact, to a young victim’s head going through a car window, to the ensuing rescue using the Jaws of Life. The viewer witnesses, with uncomfortable detail, the foolish habit of gossiping with a gadget, the devastating effects it has on three carloads of passengers, and the guilt felt by the teen driving the killer car.

The event is a dramatization, but even so, the “Scared Straight” video is probably doing exactly as its makers intended: It is hugely successful at shocking people and getting them to talk about the issue of distracted teen driving. Social and mental health professionals often say that the first step to solving a problem is admitting there is one.

According to comments posted on social networking sites, the public is doing more than that.

Some people are expressing outrage over teen driving and texting: “Teen driving and texting don’t mix. Those that do it should have their fingers cut off.”

Some people are finding it hard to find civil terms to describe this sort of teen driving: “Sad thing is idiots do this every day because they think it will never happen to them.”

And many teen driving novices are pledging never to text and drive at the same time again: “For those of you who say it is not effective, this ad has showed me not to text. I have some friends who told me they stopped texting while driving because of this.”

Robert Sinclair of the Automobile Club of New York admitted the video was very hard-hitting, but said that he believed it should be shown in the United States. Car crashes are the number one cause of death of people from birth to 44 years, he said. In many accidents, there’s usually a teen driving. Most of those deaths are entirely preventable.

Some states have already passed laws against using cell phones while driving. The laws are not just directed at teen driving. It will be just a matter of time before there is a ban on a national level.

Studies have shown that texting and teen driving can be more dangerous than driving under the influence of alcohol. When you’re driving drunk, sight, mobility, speech and reaction time are impaired. When there’s a teen driving and texting, the driver spends whole chunks of time with his eyes entirely off the road. It’s like driving blind.

Peter Watkins-Hughes, the writer and director of the video, is not apologetic for this piece of work on teen driving.

“Yes it is violent,” he said. “But the reality of a fatal road accident is much more violent. My position is if you’re old enough to drive, you’re old enough to be aware of the real and serious risks of teen driving.”

Amy Ingram, who played a passenger in the video, said she was grateful to be part of the teen driving video – and it wasn’t just for the acting experience: “Nothing is ever too graphic when it comes to saving people’s lives,” she said.

Massachusetts’ highest court is scheduled to decide if GPS vehicle tracking by police is an invasion of privacy. The decision could be precedent-setting because it might allow law enforcement agencies to use GPS tracking systems to track suspects without first obtaining a court order. The MyFoxBoston Undercover news team notes that use of the technology is on the rise. Steven Moehling, Vice President of Sales for LandAirSea Systems Inc. in Woodstock, IL, was interviewed as part of the television news segment. LandAirSea’s most popular vehicle tracking device, the GPS Tracking Key, was tested on a news vehicle.

A 2nd degree murder conviction was quickly handed down from the Chenango County judge in a landmark case where a GPS tracking device known as the Tracking Key provided pivotal evidence.

Data retrieved from a LandAirSea  GPS Tracking Key, a GPS tracking system used to monitor a vehicle’s activity, revealed concrete evidence that George Ford’s statements regarding his role in the death of his 12 year-old babysitter were less than accurate. With no eye-witnesses to confirm or deny Ford’s story, the GPS tracking system became vital to the prosecution’s claim that the incident was not an accident, but intentional. The GPS tracking system’s data supported the prosecution’s claim and a murder trial commenced.

GPS Tracking Prank- A man places a GPS Tracking Key on his colleagues vehicle. When the colleague leaves for a lunch break and returns, claiming he simply went to his home to eat a salad for lunch, it is discovered that his salad story is less than accurate!

Concerned parents place a vehicle tracking system on there son’s truck and find shocking results. When Donna and Glen decided that they would place a GPS tracking system on there 16 year-old son’s truck they did not know what to expect. Feeling that today’s world was much more dangerous then the one they grew up in, Donna and Glen placed a GPS Tracking Key, a GPS tracking system that monitors speed and stops, on there typical teen’s car and then reviewed the historical data together. With less than 72 hours worth of data, they discovered that there son not only went to a unsupervised drinking party, but he also drove at dangerous speeds close to 100mph!

Keeping your family safe special: How a GPS tracking system designed to help keep your teenager safe is becoming more popular with everyday parents.

A Chenango county man was convicted of 2nd degree murder after evidence provided from a GPS tracking system showed conclusive data he hit his 12 year-old babysitter with his truck shortly after midnight. The Tracking Key, a compact GPS tracking system, gave second-by-second data of the night’s events and was instrumental in the conviction.