The Man Behind GPS

I'm obsessed with GPS, which I consider a Defense Department invention and gift to the world equal to the Internet. Today the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio, inducted the man who invented the basic technology behind the system now used for applications ranging from aircraft navigation to precision farming.

GPS allows folks to determine their location anywhere on earth by using a receiver which calculates the time it takes to receive signals from at least three of the 24 GPS satellites orbiting the earth.

In 1964, Roger Easton, a scientist at the Naval Research Laboratory, hatched the basic idea behind GPS -- fly atomic clocks in a constellation of satellites around earth in a racetrack orbit to provide precise location information. He called the concept TIMATION, short for time-navigation.

NRL launched the first TIMATION satellite in 1967, followed by three others between 1969 and 1977, which proved Easton's concept. The Air Force launched the first experimental GPS satellite in 1978.

If anyone doubts the value of basic research, Easton's work definitely has proven monetary value. The GPS market worldwide is expected to be worth $70 billion in gadgets, software and services by 2013.

But, despite the precision of GPS -- which today can pinpoint location within feet -- it's still a good idea pack a map and a compass when you go for a hike in the woods with your GPS-equipped cell phone.