Getting, 91, Envisioned GPS System
ASSOCIATER PRESS
A. Getting, a Cold War scientist
conceived the Global Positioning
Satellite system that enables smart , hikers and motorists to reach destinations with pinpoint accuracy at 91. founding president of the research?and?development company The Aerospace Corp., died at his home in Coronado, Calif.,
The company said Friday. Throughout his 60?year career, Getting focused on the science and technology of war.
He worked on the anti?aircraft radar used
War 11 to down German V?1 cruise at England and, later, worked on
ballistic missile systems.
He also contributed to NASA's Gemini and Mercury space programs, as well as the development of high?powered chemical lasers.
"He was a true patriot and he viewed the contribution that science and technology could make to national defense as something that he could help with and work on," said George Paulikas, former Aerospace executive vice president.
The physicist in best known for envisioning a I system that would use multiple satellite transmitters, coupled with extremely precise clocks, to pinpoint with unparalleled accuracy locations anywhere on Earth.
He later became an advocate of building such a complex system once it was shown to work, helping fight back multiple Pentagon efforts' to cancel the program.
