Soyuz, with first Galileo satellites, launched from Kourou

"A Soyuz rocket lifted off on Friday on its maiden flight from Europe's
space base here, carrying the first two satellites in the Galileo
geopositioning system." (Space Travel)


There we go!

First two of the european GPS system.

jacob navia wrote:
"A Soyuz rocket lifted off on Friday on its maiden flight from
Europe's space base here, carrying the first two satellites in the
Galileo geopositioning system." (Space Travel)

There we go!

First two of the european GPS system.

Has the term GPS "gone kleenex?" Ie used to refer to any
satellite-based navigation system the same way (in the U.S. anyway)
"kleenex" is now synonymous with "facial tissue?"

rick jones
--
I don't interest myself in "why." I think more often in terms of
"when," sometimes "where;" always "how much." - Joubert
these opinions are mine, all mine; HP might not want them anyway...
feel free to post, OR email to rick.jones2 in hp.com but NOT BOTH...

In article , Rick Jones
wrote:

jacob navia wrote:
"A Soyuz rocket lifted off on Friday on its maiden flight from
Europe's space base here, carrying the first two satellites in the
Galileo geopositioning system." (Space Travel)

There we go!

First two of the european GPS system.

Has the term GPS "gone kleenex?" Ie used to refer to any
satellite-based navigation system the same way (in the U.S. anyway)
"kleenex" is now synonymous with "facial tissue?"

Given it's descriptive, I'd say there's almost nothing else you could
call such a thing.
"So, is it a Global Positioning System?"
"Um, no, it's... a Earthly Location identifier!"

--
Chris Mack "If we show any weakness, the monsters will get cocky!"
'Invid Fan' - 'Yokai Monsters Along With Ghosts'

Le 24/10/11 17:58, Rick Jones a écrit :
jacob wrote:
"A Soyuz rocket lifted off on Friday on its maiden flight from
Europe's space base here, carrying the first two satellites in the
Galileo geopositioning system." (Space Travel)

There we go!

First two of the european GPS system.

Has the term GPS "gone kleenex?" Ie used to refer to any
satellite-based navigation system the same way (in the U.S. anyway)
"kleenex" is now synonymous with "facial tissue?"

rick jones

Ahhh the americans... :-)

Yea sure, YOU have copyrighted the GPS... but ours is called
Galileo (for honoring another european).

GPS means Galileo Positioning System

OBVIOUSLY.

:-)

jacob navia wrote:
Ahhh the americans... :-)



Yea sure, YOU have copyrighted the GPS... but ours is called
Galileo (for honoring another european).

GPS means Galileo Positioning System

Sounds like a forklift or a block and tackle and a few strong backs.

OK, so once it has helped position a few statues of a dead European
will it actually be good for positioning anything else besides
Galileo?-)

rick jones
--
oxymoron n, commuter in a gas-guzzling luxury SUV with an American flag
these opinions are mine, all mine; HP might not want them anyway...
feel free to post, OR email to rick.jones2 in hp.com but NOT BOTH...

On Oct 24, 7:31*pm, Rick Jones wrote:
jacob navia wrote:
Ahhh the americans... :-)



Yea sure, YOU have copyrighted the GPS... but ours is called
Galileo (for honoring another european).
GPS means Galileo Positioning System

Sounds like a forklift or a block and tackle and a few strong backs.

OK, so once it has helped position a few statues of a dead European
will it actually be good for positioning anything else besides
Galileo?-)

rick jones
--
oxymoron n, commuter in a gas-guzzling luxury SUV with an American flag
these opinions are mine, all mine; HP might not want them anyway...
feel free to post, OR email to rick.jones2 in hp.com but NOT BOTH...

I thought GPS was a US military project from the begining and covered
the entire globe?

why build a duplicate?

Le 25/10/11 18:13, bob haller a écrit :

I thought GPS was a US military project from the begining

Yes, you are right

and covered
the entire globe?


Yes, you are right

why build a duplicate?

Because we aren't americans, as you may know. Europe is at the *other*
side of a small pond called "atlantic".

We just do not want to depend on the U.S. Military for our
positioning system.

In sci.space.policy message ,
Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:56:04, Invid Fan posted:

In article , Rick Jones
wrote:

jacob navia wrote:

First two of the european GPS system.

Has the term GPS "gone kleenex?" Ie used to refer to any
satellite-based navigation system the same way (in the U.S. anyway)
"kleenex" is now synonymous with "facial tissue?"

Given it's descriptive, I'd say there's almost nothing else you could
call such a thing.
"So, is it a Global Positioning System?"
"Um, no, it's... a Earthly Location identifier!"

Call it an "Earthly Location Finder", for a better acronym, and its
components can be named after friends of Bilbo and Frodo.

--
(c) John Stockton, nr London, UK. Turnpike v6.05 MIME.
Web http://www.merlyn.demon.co.uk/ - FAQqish topics, acronyms and links;
Astro stuff via astron-1.htm, gravity0.htm ; quotings.htm, pascal.htm, etc.
No Encoding. Quotes before replies. Snip well. Write clearly. Don't Mail News.

In article 5c388e7b-5c17-4efe-9d2b-
, says...

I thought GPS was a US military project from the begining and covered
the entire globe?

True, but civilian receivers are in use "everywhere", including safety
critical areas like aircraft. GPS is a critical component of
transportation and commerce and removing it, for any reason, would
surely cause some amount of chaos and economic impact.

why build a duplicate?

Because the US can degrade (for all non-military receivers) or turn off
GPS at will. Why let the US hold a monopoly on this technology when
it's become so critical for non-military purposes?

Note that the Russians feel the same way as the Europeans, which is why
they have their own network. So there are no less than three satellite
systems to allow a receiver to determine its precise location on or
above Earth.

Jeff
--
" Ares 1 is a prime example of the fact that NASA just can't get it
up anymore... and when they can, it doesn't stay up long. "
- tinker

In article , says...

Le 25/10/11 18:13, bob haller a écrit :

I thought GPS was a US military project from the begining

Yes, you are right

and covered
the entire globe?


Yes, you are right

why build a duplicate?

Because we aren't americans, as you may know. Europe is at the *other*
side of a small pond called "atlantic".

We just do not want to depend on the U.S. Military for our
positioning system.

Who knows when the US Military might decide to degrade the service for
non-military receivers. Considering how critical GPS has become for
non-military purposes, this is a wise decision.

Jeff
--
" Ares 1 is a prime example of the fact that NASA just can't get it
up anymore... and when they can, it doesn't stay up long. "
- tinker