Radio signals are transmitted to earth constantly by orbiting satellites. Air Force, uses at least four satellites. The Global Positioning System technology in the United States of America, currently run by the U.S. West and her team made GPS possible for us today. Let’s take a step back and explore how modern electronic GPS works and how Dr. West to thank for this amazing technology! Thank you!Įspecially in this time of a global pandemic, GPS technology has been invaluable when it comes to tracking and mapping data related to COVID-19. We use this important constellation of satellites in our daily lives for traveling, creating maps, tracking locations, telling time. The term Global Positioning System (GPS) is quite common to most people today, and it’s become vital to the modern world. (See the end of this post for more articles and sources about Dr. Check out her new memoir It Began with a Dream to learn more about her amazing career and life. We are only beginning to scratch the surface when it comes to her contributions and her story. West worked with the Navy until the late 1990s, and in her many years of work, her contributions laid the foundations for modern GPS, allowing for increasingly accurate models of the earth’s surface to be developed ( called a geoid), a necessity for having our GPS work today! In the 1970s and 1980s, she programmed early computers to better model the actual shape of the earth using data from satellites. West developed systems that allowed satellites to perform remote sensing in oceans. As part of the Seasat radar altimetry project, Dr. From this study, she then began to analyze data from satellites to create better mathematical models of the earth. West focused her work on astronomical studies in an effort to understand how Pluto and Neptune moved in relation to each other in the 1960s. West has had an incredibly accomplished career in mathematics over her 42 years of service! After starting her career with the Navy, Dr. West worked with the Naval Proving Ground (today the Naval Surface Warfare Center) in Dahlgren, Virginia beginning in 1958 and retiring in 1998.ĭr. She made her way from a one-room school-house to getting her Bachelor of Science degree, a Master of Arts, and a Master of Science degree as well as her Ph.D. West is a Virginia native, born south of Richmond in Dinwiddie County. The Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame is one of Air Force’s Space Commands Highest Honors.(Photo by Adrian Cadiz)ĭr. military in the era before electronic systems. West was among the so-called “Hidden Figures” part of the team who did computing for the U.S. Gladys West is inducted into the Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame during a ceremony in her honor at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., Dec. West shattered glass ceilings and broke barriers for women of color in mathematics and other STEM fields because of her persistence, abilities, and hard work. West and her team shaped the mathematics and technology behind GPS technology.Īdditionally, we are celebrating Black History Month this month at The Mariners’ Museum and Park. West, especially in her work with laying the groundwork for modern electronic GPS. We wanted to share in this international celebration by highlighting the work and career accomplishments of American mathematician and local Virginian, Dr. A technology that is essential to accurately tracking data associated with COVID-19 is the Global Positioning System (GPS). The day is meant to honor and celebrate the contributions to the sciences made by women and girls globally, and take a stance of commitment to continually expand the sciences to be more accessible and inclusive to women and girls. Today, February 11, 2021, is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Celebrating International Day of Women, Girls in Science, and Black History Month!
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