One of 12 magnetograms recorded at Greenwich Observatory during the Great Geomagnetic Storm of 1859
1996 soccer game in the Midwest, (Rick Dikeman image)
Nouméa ground station after the flood
A pencil and a coffee cup show the size of NASA’s teeny tiny PhoneSat
Bonus Hotspot: Naro Tartaruga AUV
Pacific lamprey spawning (photo by Jeremy Monroe, Fresh Waters Illustrated)
“Return of the Bucentaurn to the Molo on Ascension Day”, by (Giovanni Antonio Canal) Canaletto
The U.S. Naval Observatory Alternate Master Clock at 2nd Space Operations Squadron, Schriever AFB in Colorado. This photo was taken in January, 2006 during the addition of a leap second. The USNO master clocks control GPS timing. They are accurate to within one second every 20 million years (Satellites are so picky! Humans, on the other hand, just want to know if we’re too late for lunch) USAF photo by A1C Jason Ridder. 
Detail of Compass/ BeiDou2 system diagram
Hotspot 6: Beluga A300 600ST
Highest altitude fix for a GPS signal, GNSS timing signals and hacking the Grid, Eagles act as drone countermeasures and rumors of a GNSS-nano-chip contributes to cash crisis in India
Highest altitude fix for a GPS signal, GNSS timing signals and hacking the Grid, Eagles act as drone countermeasures and rumors of a GNSS-nano-chip contributes to cash crisis in India
1. GUINNESS WORLD RECORD!
Outer Space
√ NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS) earned a Guinness World Record for the highest altitude fix of a GPS signal in November when the four satellites were on their elliptical orbit 43,500 miles from Earth. When the MMS satellites are closest to us down below, they travel up to 22,000 miles per hour, making them the fastest known operational use of a GPS receiver. The four satellites fly in a tight flying formation using precise tracking systems that depend on GNSS.
- (November 4, 2016) NASA.gov: NASA’s MMS Breaks Guinness World Record
2. HACKING THE GRID?
Redlands, California and Idaho Falls, USA
√ Those delicate GNSS timing signals crucial to the synchrophasor systems on the electrical power grid keep cybersecurity folks awake at night. But, if hackers intrude on the grid, turning the lights out could be the least of our problems. Researchers from California’s Esri and the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory are using GIS to identify the likely ripple effects — from the spread of malware to water system failure to issues for first responders. In a Christian Science Monitor article about the project, the deputy director of the National Geospatial Intelligence agency said of the intersection of digital and physical worlds: “Too many people think that cyber is its own domain and quite frankly, everything resolves to physical.”
- (November 16, 2016) The Christian Science Monitor: If hackers cause a blackout, what happens next?
3. GOTCHA!
The Hague, Netherlands
√ To the list of drone countermeasures, add “eagles” along with “shoot it” and “jam its sensors.” Law enforcement in the Netherlands has partnered with a raptor-training company to teach eagles to identify drones intruding illegally in congested or secure areas, snatch them out of the sky and fly them somewhere away from the public. In theory, it promises significantly less collateral damage than other methods. The birds are rewarded with a piece of meat to make up for the tastelessness of drone and the police say the feathered hunters succeeded 80 percent of the time during the trial period.
4. FOLLOW THE MONEY?
New Delhi, India
√ India is a cash-based economy and fake currency notes and tax avoidance run rampant. Early in November, the government withdrew two often-counterfeited high-value notes that comprise 80 percent of the cash in circulation and released a new 2000-rupee bill (that’s about US$30). This has not gone well. In addition to making it tough for people to exchange money, the move inspired rumors that the new note contained a secret mini nano-GPS chip that could reveal stashes of no-doubt undeclared cash buried as deep as 393 feet below ground. Rubbish, said the Reserve Bank of India: “Such a technology does not exist at this moment in the world.”
- (November 10, 2016) The News Minute: RBI rubbishes rumours of GPS tracking chip in Rs 2000 note
- (November 10, 2016) India.com: Rs 2000 currency notes issued by Reserve Bank of India will have no GPS tracking chip, confirms Arun Jaitley
