One of the most distinctive technologies highlighted in the “Star Trek” franchise was the ability of the Federation/Star Fleet to find all of their people any time they wanted. The way Star Fleet did this was to have this little pin on their chests. This particular technique would apply more to microchip technology than to the GPS system in my view. Still, it is clear the NWO watched Star Trek and took notes. Over the last few decades the GPS, or Global Positioning System, has been upgraded far beyond its original intention. In case you forgot, GPS was sold as a way to rescue people who were lost etc. etc. etc. In reality, GPS was always a military system. Always has been and always will be. GPS is a satellite based locator technology, cruising at 22,000 miles in a geo synchronous orbit used by the military to target their missiles. These GPS satellites maintain a relative position with the earth and this allows them to maintain a proper alignment with the earth.
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Dude, if the NWO is comprised of Trekkies, they'll never put down the cheese popcorn and get off the couch long enough to conquer the world. If they do take over, all they'll do is make everyone wear Spock ears. And I say this as a Trekkie of many years' standing. (Does that make me part of Teh Kornspeeracy?)
GPS satellites orbit at 12,000 miles, not 22,000 miles. Geosynchronous orbits are at 26,200 miles. GPS satellites do not use geosynchronous orbits, because then they'd have to be over the equator, and it would be very hard for them to get a fix on anything that wasn't in the tropics.
Oh, and a GPS receiver (of the type you might have in your car or cellphone) does not tell the system where you are. It just passively picks up signals from the satellites and triangulates its location from there. Unlike in Star Trek, the system is not designed to tell a central authority where you are.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gps#Space_segment http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geosynchronous_orbit
Of course there are GPS transceivers that relay the position of the transmitter; bus companies, shipping lines, airlines and emergency services use them all the time to keep track of their fleet. But the ones in your car or your phone aren't like that ... they are way more expensive, for a start.
And even if they were, it would be a pretty dumb conspiracy that would be so easy to foil.
Uh, no, GPS satellites are not in geosynchronous orbit.
And in case you haven't heard, Star Trek is fiction. That's not to say that people can't get ideas for technology from watching sci-fi, but methinks you're making a connection where none exists. Or at least that's what the microhip implant from my flu shot is telling me.
That's right Steve Quayle the NWO is watching.
In fact the're... RIGHT BEHIND YOU!
@Doubting Thomas
Hey, I think we've just discovered what Starfleet calls "standard orbit"; 'cos the Enterprise was always shown moving with respect to the surface of the planet it was in standard orbit around (even though you'd expect a synchronous orbit so it can maintain line of sight with the away team).
Damn, why aren't I part of this Trekkie NWO?
@Sandwich Board
I'm no trekkie, but AFAIK the starship didn't have to be line-of-sight to maintain communications with the away team, just "close." Presumably they could beam people up or down even while on the other side of the planet. Or at least in the old Star Trek episodes.
But I think Mr. Quayle here (wouldn't it be funny if he were related to Dan?) is talking about Star Trek: TNG because they're the ones who had communicators in their badges, and the original Star Trek characters always had to have the little Motorola flip phone communicators.
Sigh. So this nut believes Star Trek is a credible source of science, that technological advances mean the NWO is becoming more powerful and that GPS satellites are in a geosynchronous orbit to maintain a proper alignment so they can locate objects on Earth.
Anyone got a Picard facepalm?
@Doubting Thomas and Sandwich Board:
Just to completely geek out here, are we certain the Enterprise was always shown moving in relation to the planet's surface? It could have been apparent motion, if it was the camera moving in relation to the Enterprise (model/CGI). No reason a "camera in space" had to be stationary, even if we were watching from stationary sofas. The background star field would have been too far away to break the illusion for a casual observer.
Meh, that standard orbit still looks weird. If you do want to actually keep an eye on the away team it helps if you can actually see them. How many times would a redshirt (so-called even after switching to gold) have been saved if someone could call down and say "Oy, shambling saltsucker thirty metres north!"?
Whenever there is surface detail on the planet (which pretty much means Earth, because every other planet in the galaxy is covered with either red or green cloud), the ship is visibly moving relative to the ground. Unless the laws of parallax are severely bent - which is not too unlikely (studios seem congenitally incapable of getting things in space to the right proportions).
This is before I bother to point out the predilection for orienting the ship so that the planet is abeam. Once it's in orbit surely there are more useful orientations?
The most sophisticated thing about those communicators is that they always connect to the right person when you call. Never any confusion about which Crusher you want, and Ensign Brij never has to go ex-directory to get some peace and quiet.
Getting back on topic (and putting down the cheese popcorn): I suggest this guy should go to Andy Schlafly and find out how GPS really works.
And why would the NWO waste effort developing two independent global positioning systems?
Oh my, so much fail, in so short a time.
The GPS sats are in a fairly low orbit, to reduce the power requirements of the transmitters. The GPS RECEIVER in your phone or navigation system simply looks for the signals from 4 sats. Once it 'knows' the positions of the sats, it can triangulate and determine its own position on the surface of the Earth. The GPS sats are constanly broadcasting their position via a similar triangulation - they look for ground-based broadcasters.
As a correction to Smilodon, GPS was originally used as a targeting system for missiles, especially sea-launched missiles. The missile was programmed to 'know' where it was supposed to go, but it had to know where it WAS before launch.
And of course, the NWO didn't take notes from Star Trek - they WROTE the scripts for Star Trek - or that's what George Noory says, and we all know he's always right, don't we?
Dude, if the NWO is comprised of Trekkies, we'll be a hell of a lot better off. Have you ever seen how awesome the Federation is? Besides, light speed travel dude! And aliens! Deep space travel! I'm totally siding with the NWO now.
“One of the most distinctive technologies highlighted in the “Star Trek” franchise was the ability of the Federation/Star Fleet to find all of their people any time they wanted. The way Star Fleet did this was to have this little pin on their chests. This particular technique would apply more to microchip technology than to the GPS system in my view.”
“Still, it is clear the NWO watched Star Trek and took notes.”
"Global Positioning System, has been upgraded far beyond its original intention.”
“GPS is a satellite based locator technology, cruising at 22,000 miles in a geo synchronous orbit used by the military to target their missiles.”
“It is this stable alignment which makes GPS useful in locating objects on Earth.”
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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