The Timation

satellite A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...

s were conceived, developed, and launched by the United States Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. beginning in 1964. The concept of Timation was to broadcast an accurate time reference for use as a ranging signal to receivers on the ground. On 31 May 1967, the Timation 1 satellite was launched. This was followed by the Timation 2 (NRL-PL 169) satellite launch in 1969. In 1973 the U.S. Navy Timation and the Air Force System 621B navigation system (known as the DNSS - Defense Navigation Satellite System) are consolidated by the Deputy Secretary of Defense. Two more advanced Timation satellites are launched. NTS-1 - Navigation Technology Satellite (Timation 3) is launched in 1974, while NTS-2 (Timation 4) is launched in 1977. The results of this program and Air Force Project 621B formed the basis for the

Global Positioning System The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based hyperbolic navigation system owned by the United States Space Force and operated by Mission Delta 31. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide ge ...

(GPS). The Navy's contribution to the GPS program continued to be focused on ever more accurate clocks.

History

There is a historical connection between accurate time keeping, navigation, and the

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

. In 1714, the British government passed the '' Longitude Act'' (see longitude prize) to create an incentive to solve the problem of navigation at sea. The solution, developed by John Harrison, was an accurate clock which could compare local time to

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

, England time. To this day,

Coordinated Universal Time Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communicat ...

(UTC), the successor of

Greenwich Mean Time Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the local mean time at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, including being ...

(GMT), is the reference time for the planet, and in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, the official time for the Department of Defense (DoD) is kept by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. This is kept in

synchronization Synchronization is the coordination of events to operate a system in unison. For example, the Conductor (music), conductor of an orchestra keeps the orchestra synchronized or ''in time''. Systems that operate with all parts in synchrony are sa ...

with the official civilian time reference maintained by

National Institute of Standards and Technology The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into Outline of p ...

(NIST) and contributes to the International Atomic Time.

Satellites

References

External links

Timation Satellite Program (navy.mil)

Who invented the Global Positioning System? (thespacereview.com)

Range navigation using the Timation II satellite
Navigation satellite constellations Satellites orbiting Earth Satellite navigation 1964 introductions {{US-spacecraft-stub

History

Satellites

See also

References

External links