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
1. EASY RIDER
Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA
√ Not only has century-old American motorcycle manufacturer Harley Davidson used consumer focus groups for the first time to develop its newest “hogs,” it has responded to customers with a voice-activated touch-screen GPS unit, the first on a production model. Now the Easy Riders don’t have to wend their way to trouble, they can ask their chopper where to go.
1. EASY RIDER
Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA
√ Not only has century-old American motorcycle manufacturer Harley Davidson used consumer focus groups for the first time to develop its newest “hogs,” it has responded to customers with a voice-activated touch-screen GPS unit, the first on a production model. Now the Easy Riders don’t have to wend their way to trouble, they can ask their chopper where to go.
2. COLLABORATORY
Dayton, Ohio USA
√ Want to solve some knotty problems? The 711th Human Performance Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base has set up an online collaborative platform to crowd-solve technical challenges. It’s aimed at science, technology, and engineering-oriented adults and older teenagers. Project 3 — coming soon — asks you to target the precise coordinates within the GPS constellation to launch the newest IIF.
3. SVN 64
Cape Canaveral, Florida USA
√ The fifth GPS IIF, SVN 64, is scheduled to take a ride on a Delta 4 launcher on October 17. Meanwhile, U.S. Air Force engineers are testing a new charging method that could reduce the rate of battery degradation and extend the life of the older IIRs and IIR-Ms, which make up 60 percent of the GPS constellation.
4. TAKE TWO
Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia
√ After the July 2 loss of three GLONASS-M satellites, Russia temporarily grounded the Proton launcher, and decided to send up two replacement SVs using the trusty Soyuz. Uragan/GLONASS-M 39 and 40 are scheduled to go up in September and October from Plesetsk Cosmodrome. Meanwhile, three senior managers at the space agency’s TsNIIMash, Central Institute for Machine Building, have been axed and charged in a continuing GLONASS corruption scandal.
5. KOREA’S OWN
Sejong City, Korea
√ On September 2, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency announced plans for the country’s own satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS). The open service will reduce the margin of error from the current 37 meters to 1 meter, it said. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport will start work in 2014 and expects to complete the system by 2018.
