+hzoi Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Russian Rocket With First Galileo Satellites Launches From French Guiana KOUROU, French Guiana – A Soyuz rocket lifted off on its maiden flight Friday, carrying the first two satellites in the Galileo geopositioning system from a European space base in French Guiana. The launch -- the first by the veteran rocket beyond Russia's historic bases at Plesetsk and Baikonur -- is part of a commercial deal struck in 2003 to extend the range of Arianespace, which markets services from the European Space Agency (ESA) base in Kourou, French Guiana. The €5.4 billion ($7.4 billion) Galileo project is designed to comprise 27 operational satellites and three spares by its completion in 2020. It should give geopositioning accuracy to within a meter (3.25 feet), whereas the US Global Positioning System is currently accurate to between three and eight meters (10 and 26 feet), according to official websites. After a nine-minute flight through Earth's atmosphere, the Soyuz's final stage, the Fregat, was to propel the satellites on a three-hour flight toward their orbital slot. =========================== Between the EU building the Galileo constellation and the Russian GLONASS constellation recently filling in its last hole, hopefully we can look to a considerable boost in accuracy over the next couple years. (With upgraded GPSr hardware, of course...) Quote Link to comment
CACAHUETES Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Wow. That will be awesome for the people out there who actually need a machine to do all of the hard searching work for them. Tchoh. 'Huetes out Quote Link to comment
GOF and Bacall Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 'Huetes sarcasm aside it does raise a question. How accurate is too accurate for geocaching? Quote Link to comment
+Walts Hunting Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Since it won't even be turned on in its most basic form until 2014 there isn't much to consider now. Also need to remember one of the basic rules of measurement. No set of measurements is any more accurate than the least accurate instrument. So it will do a user of the system no good for caches placed w/o it. Besides when I get within 20 feet I stop looking at the GPS anyhow. Quote Link to comment
+Doctroid Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 'Huetes sarcasm aside it does raise a question. How accurate is too accurate for geocaching? There will always be room for easy caches. For those wanting a greater challenge, perhaps there will be an upswing in puzzle caches. Quote Link to comment
+JeepFreak81 Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Sure will help with those micros and nanos.....haha! Quote Link to comment
+captnemo Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Sure will help with those micros and nanos.....haha! Thank God! Quote Link to comment
+hzoi Posted October 21, 2011 Author Share Posted October 21, 2011 Wow. That will be awesome for the people out there who actually need a machine to do all of the hard searching work for them. Yeah, thanks for adding to the discussion. Meanwhile, at the adult table... Out in the open, I get pretty good accuracy now. I think this would help in wooded areas and mountains; there have been plenty of times lately where I've been in the woods with just rolling hills, and the accuracy has been at 50 feet or worse. I wonder if it would help or hurt with urban signal bounce. Quote Link to comment
+dfx Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 The first thing that comes to mind is: about time! Very curious about the promised accuracy, but it's gonna be a while before we'll be able to see it... Quote Link to comment
+SwineFlew Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 The more accuracy it get, the more off the older caches will be. Quote Link to comment
knowschad Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 The more accuracy it get, the more off the older caches will be. I'm sure there is some logic behind what you say, but older caches will still be exactly where they are, and so will be as accurate, or as inaccurate as they ever were. However, we may finally realize how far off they were. Quote Link to comment
+PokerLuck Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Just because the new system has greater accuracy doesn't mean that geocachers are required to use it. This topic has been discussed before, and one suggestion that I like is for GC.com to limit the accuracy of the coordinates that they publish. That will keep the "sport" in the sport of geocaching. Quote Link to comment
+dfx Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Just because the new system has greater accuracy doesn't mean that geocachers are required to use it. This topic has been discussed before, and one suggestion that I like is for GC.com to limit the accuracy of the coordinates that they publish. In a way, they already do that. Rounding errors in the coordinates can amount to 1.3 meters. Not a lot in today's world, but if Galileo's accuracy turns out to be better than that, then things would look differently. Quote Link to comment
Keystone Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 I am moving this thread from the Geocaching Topics forum to the GPS and Technology forum. Quote Link to comment
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