ASCI 691 Graduate Capstone

ASCI 691 Project 1

ASCI 691 Graduate Capstone

Project Proposal

Student Name

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

ASCI 691 Graduate Capstone Proposal

Submitted to the Worldwide Campus

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of

Master of Aeronautical Science

Date

Acronyms

GPS Global Positioning System

Definition of Terms

Moore’s Law: is the observation that, over the history of computing hardware, the number of transistors in a dense integrated circuit has doubled approximately every two years.

Global Positioning Systemis a space-based navigation system that provides location and time information in all weather conditions, anywhere on or near the Earth where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites

Can We Live in a Today’s World without GPS?

Introduction

Background of the Problem

This research will demonstrate the need and the dependence we have on GPS technology. We live in a world that no one takes the time to look up at the heavens anymore because we are so busy looking down. We look down to look at our many electronic devices that we have in our availability on a daily basis such as smart phones and tablets just to name a few. We depends on these devices so much that in the world that we live in today is it consider the regular standard of living. To not be jack in to this world of technological information is live a caveman without the necessary ingredients or tools to make a fire to keep warm.

The example about the cavemen, as describe earlier, can give the reader and idea about all the essential moving parts it take to operate these tools and use them properly, especially when it comes down to utilizing GPS technology. All the devices that we use are nothing more than a pile of cheap scrap metal composed of transistors, capacitors and circuit boards. These individual parts can be compared to the caveman tools for them to begin to start a fire. Now there is a process that must take place for the fire to start just like for the transistor and capacitors to work together to give us our Facebook, Twitter and of course our GPS technology. The key factor to this process to give the caveman fire and to give us our social media and GPA is software.

Software is the missing link in giving us all the enjoyment that we as a modern civilization has adapted in our way of like from these electronic devices. In comparison, the caveman uses the tools to make a fire and from the use of the fire is where the caveman gets to use the applications of it. The reason why the caveman builds a fire is to keep warm, cook food and see in the dark. The same can be said above the GPS but we don’t use it to cook food or keep warm but we do use it to see. The GPS system is use to plan travel routes to our destination and also plan the route back to our beginning starting point. “GPS technology is now in everything from cell phones and wristwatches to bulldozers, shipping containers, and ATM's” (GPS, 2014)

Just like the use of fire, GPS technology has many more applications then just getting the normal person on the right path to their destination. “GPS boosts productivity across a wide swath of the economy, to include farming, construction, mining, surveying, package delivery, and logistical supply chain management. Major communications networks, banking systems, financial markets, and power grids depend heavily on GPS for precise time synchronization. Some wireless services cannot operate without it” (GPS, 2014). This technology has enormous bundles of applications that in impact our lives in way that the normal people wouldn’t even begin to think about.

It’s amazing of all the functions that GPS system brings to the entire world. Since the beginning of the GPS project in the 1970’s, this navigation system has made a place in our daily lives. Some outcomes of just having GPS system are still truly amazing. “GPS saves lives by preventing transportation accidents, aiding search and rescue efforts, and speeding the delivery of emergency services and disaster relief.” (GPS, 2014). Also with this technology, we can predict weather patterns. This also falls in the category of saving life when massive hurricane, tornadoes or massive floods events threatens our homeland. Just like predicting weather patterns across the world, GPS tracking systems have been used to predict earthquakes. Even though more research in plotting and prediction weather anomalies is ongoing, GPS have made our way of life safer in these areas of science.

As far as the aviation and aerospace industries goes in GPS systems, “GPS is vital to the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) that will enhance flight safety while increasing airspace capacity” (GPS, 2014). NextGen is basically a way to transform air traffic control system from a ground-based system to a satellite-based system using GPS technology. The implementation of this system will allow fights to have shortened routes to reduce the delays in air traffic delays which is increasing at an exponential rate every year. Also with the help of GPS systems with NextGen, it will promote more safely measures amount the many fights in our airspace. So since the caveman, we came a long way from learning to start a fire to controlling the natural events of the world by having the power right at our fingertips.

The purpose of this research is to dependence if we as a society can live without this particular technology. If the day ever comes when this systems isn’t available for society to use, would that means we would be sent back into our whole reality of a modern Stone Age society. Imagine that without the Global Positioning System, we would have to put down our electronic device and go to the nearest store or gas station to pick up a map. Can we just go back to look up in the sky just to predict the weather for that day? With the increasing air traffic that are in out skies, can we handle going back to a ground based air traffic control. The researcher would look at the possibility of not having this system in our daily lives and see how would mankind act without it.

Statement of the Problem

The purpose that this graduate capstone paper will address is the dependence of GPS technology in our society. As we all know, nothing in life is always a 100% certain. Factors come into play that may compromise future plans that were pre-planned because of human factors or other unexpected events. When it comes to our dependence of GPS systems, life would be turned around a quicker as the problem had occurred. Since our modern existence revolves around these technological products then if it’s even possible for society at this stage to live without it.

The research question that the work will address is since that the GPS system has integrated its way into becoming the everyday norm; how would society function if this technology were no longer available? Furthermore, this graduate capstone paper will also examine the following ancillary questions. First, if we are subject to some sort of worldwide cyber-attack on our entire GPS system than how long would it take to get it back online? Second, if we are hit by a major solar storm than what kind of backup we have in place? Lastly, how can mankind recover from a total system failure of our GPS technology?

The expected sources of data that this capstone project will used would be from academic resources that focus will be towards GPS systems. The researcher will also look at pervious thesis works on improving and upgrading GPS technology. Also to understand the fundamental properties of these systems, more academics and scientific publication would be used to give the research more of a based to support the research question.

Hypothesis Statements

The hypothesis testing of this research is the dependence of GPS technology in our society

H1: We cannot live in a world without GPS technology.

H0: We can live in a world without GPS technology.

Significance of the Problem

This research is it would let us know how lazy we have become. If we are unable to access GPS then it would cause a lot disruption. Now we can get adapt and get use to anything but how long would that in this case. The research of investigation contributes new methodologies to the prevailing body of knowledge of the dependence that society has with GPS technology.

Limitations

There aren’t any limitations that face the researcher at this time.

Assumptions

The only assumption that the researcher has at this point in time is that the work is or already being done. Besides that, the researcher doesn’t have any other assumptions at this time.

Review of Relevant Literature

Introduction

This research is the understanding in developing new methodologies the dependence that society has with GPS technology. To get an understanding of how society has been so dependent on this particular technology, the research must look at the history of how it was started. Also as the researcher gives the reader the origin of GPS systems, then the researcher would then go over some of the major applications of it. Once the research has cover this, than the project would look at how people adapted to the GPS system as their new way of life.

Structure

Some may think that the development of GPS systems began in the 90’s or even the early 80’s. In fact this is partially true. “This history focuses on the period up to about 1980, when GPS was approved for full-scale development. Between that time and the date that GPS was declared fully operational, April 27, 1995, many additional contributions were made” (Easton, 2013). The birth of the idea of the first stages of development begins in the 1950’s.

Unlike like the Moon race in the 1960’s, the Soviet Union had made it mark in space history by launching the first satellite in orbit called Sputnik. “On October 4, 1957, the USSR put into orbit a tiny sphere with a radio transmitter that beeped its way into history” (NASA, 2013). Within a year, America joined the Russians by launching Explorer 1 into orbit. These great feats of wonders that took place was the starting point of transmitting signal from anywhere around the world. Later research would uncover other things that would ignite the industry to what it is today.

The first real world application of GPS like system occurred in 1958. With the launch of these new satellites, many scientist and engineers began studying their orbits. It was then found that these satellites gave off a tone and this in turn gave them a way to follow them. Then these research wonder if the signal cause be revered to track or guild objects on the ground. This idea quickly grew to was at the time called Navy's Transit satellite program

Navy’s Transit satellite program was the based on to provide position updates to the United States submarine ballistic-missile force. “The Transit program developed a technique essential for GPS: the use of two frequencies to calibrate the time delay of the radio signal induced by the ionosphere. This dual-frequency technique was incorporated into GPS to attain the highest positioning accuracy. In addition, Transit also pioneered the accurate prediction of satellite orbits, another essential GPS technology” (Easton, 2013). This marked an event in our history that would evolve more and more as the years passed. It wasn’t until April 27, 1995, that GPS technology had become fully operational.

Applications

Since the development of GPS technology, the applications of it had venture off into many different pathways but only three of which would be up for a brief discussion. First, human factors in safety have made the aviation industry more production in finding ways to shorten route and organize air traffic. Second, GPS technology has contributed to a great deal of how our weather patterns behave and develop and good prediction system for severe weather to get pole a chance to take cover. Lastly, the number one thing that this system is used for by the regular everyday person is getting from one place to another in the shorten amount of time. The researcher will now begin to take a little better look at each of these applications.

Aviation Traffic Control

In aviation, GPS has benefited flight tremendously. “GPS is critically important to the millions of customers who airlines fly every day, and is the heart of a multibillion dollar system to modernize the air navigation system," said A4A Senior Vice President for Safety, Security and Operations Tom Hendricks, who testified before the House Aviation Subcommittee” (Airlines for America, 2012). The implementation of the Nextgen have made commercial air travel safer and cost efficient. The GPS systems is the backbone of NextGen and with this we are able to moved away from ground based traffic controls to satellites. “Next generation air traffic management systems are crucial in successfully handling this growth and improving the safety of billions of future passengers.” (Strohmeier, 2014). In recent years, traffic in the air has been exponentially increasing and that number for the future is expected to continue to rise. NextGen will the right step towards making should our skies aren’t overwhelmed with traffic and that routes are timed in the proper manner to get customer to their destinations on time.

Weather Forecasting

Another great thing that happens because of the arrival of GPS is the forecasting of weather events. It is truly amazing that we can see a tropic depression become a hurricane and monitor every moment of it. “For example, pilot GPS satellites recently predicted the strength and path of a hurricane four days before it made landfall in South America. It was off by only 37 miles. Traditional GPS sensors can model a hurricane's path three days beforehand and the measurements are typically off by about 186 miles, according to Yunck”( Lee, B. 2008). GPS allow us to track low pressure system and follow weather events as they unfold.

As with anything, things get better with time. In the case of technology, Moore’s Law have shown that it rapidly becoming increasing better almost every year or so because it doubles itself. The same it also is said about GPS systems. Research is being done to increase the sensors on the system for better tracking. “Pyxis employs satellite weather sensor technology capable of penetrating through clouds and storms to produce calibrated data required for accurate weather forecasting, climate monitoring, and space weather prediction. Using GPS Radio Occultation (GPS-RO), this weather instrument tracks GPS signals traveling through Earth's atmosphere and converts them into measurements of global temperature, pressure, and water vapor. System can track signals from GPS, Galileo, Beidou, and GLONASS”( New product news ,2015).

Needs for Everyone

GPS has made a real impact on the world around us but it also serves a very rich source of living for each of our personal needs. Since the introductory of GPS systems through our personal devices such as cell phones and tablets, it has made the simple task a lot simpler. When we used our GPS to plan a route, it will take us to the faster route to get to whenever we are going. Not only that but we can plan routes around interesting points of interests, landmarks, campsites, diners, etc. Another great thing is that we can keep track of our children. “With GPS technology, children can be monitored 24 h a day throughout their childhood and teens” (Fahlquist 2015). It seems that we have developed a high dependence towards GPS.

Broad Work

A lot of work has been done in accordance with our need of technology. Studies have been done to show how technology has influence our lives some for the good and others for the bad. One study shows about 39.3% of kids between the ages of 11-18 have problems spelling. Now third doesn’t sound like much but the problem of spelling comes from text shortcuts. “Andrew Kakabadse, Professor at Canfield School of Management said: "Our research shows that technology obsession hinders spelling skills, implicitly encourages plagiarism, and disrupts classroom learning” (Technology addiction disrupts teenage learning, 2009).

Narrow Work

From the research of the board work that was conducted, we have shown the reader how technology can impact the learning process. Another work to look at is how much dependent we have become on technology “Results from hierarchical multiple regression of family functioning over 12 months, repeated measures analysis of variance for major study variables, and the impact of the child's technology dependency on family finances will be presented.” (Toly, 2010). This study shows how technology can interfere with the relationship between family members.