The History Hack podcast recently interviewed Richard, who spoke about his father’s role in the early space race and the creation of GPS. The discussion also touches on the controversy that remains over the so-called “Lonely Halls Meeting” in 1973, the year the Pentagon merged Navy and Air Force satellite navigation programs to create the dual-use system that today functions as a global public utility. Listen to the podcast here.
Filed under News
Richard recently spoke with John Mulnix, host of The Space Shot podcast, in a wide-ranging discussion about GPS. The conversation covers a basic overview of the technological workings of the system, some little-known early history of its development and how GPS today serves vital military and civilian needs. Listen to Episode 403 here.
Filed under News
Cold War Conversations, a podcast series focused on the cold war era, recently interviewed Richard Easton about the early days of the U.S. space program and the origin of GPS. Listen to Episode 76 to hear Richard recall details of growing up with a father doing space projects at the Naval Research Laboratory and share details of his research into the military programs that led to GPS.
Filed under News
Richard Easton recently contributed a guest post for the Lidar News “In the Scan” blog. In his post, Richard reviews the history of GPS and highlights several common myths surrounding the technology, as well as widespread misinformation about its origin. Richard continues to pursue documentary evidence that will shed additional light on the early days of GPS.
Filed under News, Uncategorized
Richard kicked off the new year with an appearance on TOCRadio’s Podcast Episode 19. In a wide-ranging interview, hosts Wyatt Harper and Matt Schoenfeldt queried him about the historical development of GPS and the arrival of GPS III satellites, which are finally launching after years of delays. Richard debunked the common myth that President Ronald Reagan declassified GPS for its first civilian use, discussed how GPS impacted the Persian Gulf War, summarized ongoing challenges related to spoofing and jamming, and raised the policy issue posed by whether new military receivers should incorporate other GNSS signals.
TOCRadio is a military-themed podcast produced by LTC Matt Schoenfeldt and CPT Wyatt Harper.
Filed under News
You can now listen to GPS Declassified! An audio version was recently released by University Press Audiobooks and is available at Audible.com.
Narrated by: Douglas R. Pratt
Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
Unabridged
Release date: 01-04-18
Language: English
Publisher: University Press Audiobooks
Filed under News
The Institute of Navigation Quarterly Newsletter, Vol. 27, No. 3 (Summer 2017), page 10, published a feature article, GPS Historians Spread a PNT Gospel, about several recent public talks Richard Easton and Eric Frazier have presented, including one that appeared on C-SPAN’s American History TV.
The authors continue to mine historical factors in the development of GPS that provide relevant signposts for the technology going forward.
Filed under News
On May 5, 2017, Richard Easton and Eric Frazier presented “GPS: American Invention, Global Impact” at the New York Military Affairs Symposium (NYMAS) on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan.
The talk focused on how GPS technology, which was conceived and developed in U.S. military laboratories to meet Cold War needs, has spawned a worldwide satellite navigation industry, with global revenues from devices themselves and added-value services enabled by them estimated by the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (GSA) to reach €270 billion to €300 billion by 2025.
C-SPAN was on hand to videotape the presentation for its “American History TV” series. The AH schedule shows the first air date as 2 p.m., June 3, 2017, on C-SPAN3. Afterward, it will be available to watch online.
Filed under News
SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with Richard Easton, co-author of GPS Declassified: From Smart Bombs to Smartphones, to discuss the development of GPS and its role in the military, intelligence, and civilian domains. Easton’s father, Roger, led the Space Applications Branch of the Naval Research Laboratory from the Vanguard Satellite era to the early days of GPS development. Listen to the entire podcast.
Filed under News
Richard Easton and Eric Frazier were recently invited by the National Security Space Institute (NSSI), located at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo., to speak to students and faculty.
The two-day visit included a 90-minute presentation, July 21, as part of the Space Professionals Speaker Series, hosted by Gen. John E. Hyten, Commander, Air Force Space Command.
The authors got a behind-the-scenes tour of the GPS ground control facility at nearby Schriever AFB and met more than a dozen of the over 100 members of the 2nd Space Operations Squadron, who keep the GPS constellation running smoothly 24/7.
Easton and Frazier presented their talk, “GPS: Military Asset, Public Utility,” five times in all, including to the space professionals community, to three classes of NSSI students from the United States and allies, and to a faculty gathering.
For two individuals who have devoted countless hours to researching the historical development of GPS, as well as its economic and sociological implications, Easton and Frazier consider it a rare treat to have the opportunity to meet the experts who manage GPS and see firsthand the facilities they operate.
View the entire talk at YouTube:
Filed under News
