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Hey List:
Just got this and am passing it on... You will now be
able to determine in a parade EXACTLY how far behind the
vehicle in front you are allowing us to impress the crowds
to no end and allow Thunder Birds type maneuvers with our
M35A2's without turning on our lights !!!!! ;-)
TTFN Ron MVPA 18999
>The White House released this press release today:
>
>[available at
http://www.whitehouse.gov/library/PressReleases.cgi]
>
>
>May 1, 2000
>
>STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT REGARDING THE UNITED STATES'
DECISION
>TO STOP DEGRADING GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM ACCURACY
>
> THE WHITE HOUSE
>
> Office of the Press Secretary
>
>
_______________________________________________________
>For Immediate Release May 1, 2000
>
>
> STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT REGARDING
> THE UNITED STATES' DECISION TO STOP
DEGRADING
> GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM ACCURACY
>
>
>Today, I am pleased to announce that the United States will
stop the
>intentional degradation of the Global Positioning System
(GPS) signals
>available to the public beginning at midnight tonight. We
call this
>degradation feature Selective Availability (SA). This will
mean that
>civilian users of GPS will be able to pinpoint locations up
to ten times
>more accurately than they do now. GPS is a dual-use,
satellite-based
system
>that provides accurate location and timing data to users
>worldwide.
>
>My March 1996 Presidential Decision Directive included in
the goals for GPS
>to: "encourage acceptance and integration of GPS into
peaceful civil,
>commercial and scientific applications worldwide; and to
encourage private
>sector investment in and use of U.S. GPS technologies and
services." To
>meet these goals, I committed the U.S. to discontinuing the
use of SA by
>2006 with an annual assessment of its continued use
beginning this year.
>
>The decision to discontinue SA is the latest measure in an
on-going effort
>to make GPS more responsive to civil and commercial users
worldwide. Last
>year, Vice President Gore announced our plans to modernize
GPS by adding
two
>new civilian signals to enhance the civil and commercial
service. This
>initiative is on-track and the budget further advances
modernization by
>incorporating some of the new features on up to 18
additional satellites
>that are already awaiting launch or are in production. We
will continue to
>provide all of these capabilities to worldwide users free
of charge.
>
>My decision to discontinue SA was based upon a
recommendation by the
>Secretary of Defense in coordination with the Departments
of State,
>Transportation, Commerce, the Director of Central
Intelligence, and other
>Executive Branch Departments and Agencies. They realized
that worldwide
>transportation safety, scientific, and commercial interests
could best be
>served by discontinuation of SA. Along with our commitment
to enhance GPS
>for peaceful applications, my administration is committed
to preserving
>fully the military utility of GPS. The decision to
discontinue SA is
>coupled with our continuing efforts to upgrade the military
utility of our
>systems that use GPS, and is supported by threat
assessments which conclude
>that setting SA to zero at this time would have minimal
impact on national
>security. Additionally, we have demonstrated the
capability to selectively
>deny GPS signals on a regional basis when our national
security is
>threatened. This regional approach to denying navigation
services is
>consistent with the 1996 plan to discontinue the
degradation of civil and
>commercial GPS service globally through the SA technique.
>
>Originally developed by the Department of Defense as a
military system, GPS
>has become a global utility. It benefits users around the
world in many
>different applications, including air, road, marine, and
rail navigation,
>telecommunications, emergency response, oil exploration,
mining, and many
>more. Civilian users will realize a dramatic improvement
in GPS accuracy
>with the discontinuation of SA. For example, emergency
teams responding to
>a cry for help can now determine what side of the highway
they must respond
>to, thereby saving precious minutes. This increase in
accuracy will allow
>new GPS applications to emerge and continue to enhance the
lives of people
>around the world.
>----
>Via the amsat-bb mailing list at AMSAT.ORG courtesy of
AMSAT-NA.
>To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe amsat-bb" to
Majordomo@amsat.org
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Jun 01 2000 - 22:37:10 PDT