GPS Disasters – More Than Just Navigation
Image via Wikipedia
As our world becomes more and more reliant on technology, so serious system collapses become more likely. I’ve been reading all about GPS jammers at New Scientist (the article is online at Gizmodo), and I learned that they affect more than just your Garmin or TomTom. Actually 90% of GPS receivers use the data for timing not location. If GPS signals are lost, these are some of the services that will be affected:
- Cell phone towers
- Air traffic control
- Emergency pagers
- ATM machines
- Electric grids
- Stock exchanges
- …and navigation (obviously), but not just your car – think freight in a just-in-time environment, emergency services, shipping and train routing
The first four of the above services were affected in San Diego for 2 hours in January 2007. The culprit was later discovered to be a naval exercise nearby, where they blocked radio signals. However you don’t need to be the Navy to have the same effect. Truck drivers using $30 GPS jamming devices from China (to hide from their bosses) have already caused such problems. Imagine if a bunch of Anonymous hackers bought some and ventured out into the real world…
Aside from the potential deliberate harm caused by activists and terrorists, and the accidental harm from truck drivers, the satellites themselves are also at risk:
- The GPS satellites are old and need replacing – the Guardian reported in May 2009, “a lack of investment means that some of the crucial GPS satellites could begin to fail as early as next year.” Only two of the twelve replacements have been launched since.
- Satellites can get hit by meteorites, etc.
- More likely is getting hit by man-made space debris. Two items colliding could cause the Kessler Syndrome to kick in, where a cascade of collisions quickly wipes out everything in orbit. This is a serious threat.
- And of course, as I keep saying, the Sun is a threat t
One of the chief things that amaze me about People is that they rely too much on Technology & not on their own Brains. GPS is fine, but in a Survival Scenerio it can be a problem. People have got away from use Maps for Navigation. GPS is fine for that, but NOT as the primary tool for Navigation.