Embedded Files
Thanks to a woman mathematician and the military, we now have GPS
Thanks to a woman mathematician and the military, we now have GPS
Dr. 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., on December 6, 2018. West was among the so-called "Hidden Figures" part of the team who did computing for the U.S. military in the era before electronic systems.
By Tribune Content Agency, adapted by Newsela staff; Photo by: Adrian Cadiz
Question: Who was the first and only black woman inducted into the Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame?
You might not be familiar with U.S. Navy mathematician Gladys West, but you've seen her work. The world would be a different place without GPS, the Global Positioning System pioneered by West. It has changed the world in ways that can't be measured.
West, now in her late 80s, is the African American woman who used mathematical and computer calculations to help create the military forerunner of the widely used GPS. The system is now entwined with our everyday lives.
Question: What does the acronym, GPS, stand for?
Work At U.S. Naval Weapons Laboratory-Dahlgren
You might have used a smartphone for travel directions. Or you might have had lunch brought to your door by a food delivery service directed by an app. If you did, then give thanks to GPS and West. Her game-changing achievements came at the U.S. Naval Weapons Laboratory-Dahlgren, in Virginia, during her career there of more than 40 years.
GPS.gov is the official U.S. government website about GPS. It says the technology has created a wide range of opportunities for use and increased productivity. It has changed what is possible in aviation, space, public safety, disaster relief, agriculture and other governmental and commercial fields, the website says.
Last December, West received the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Award for her "decades of contributions to the Air Force's space program."
The Air Force manages the United States' GPS satellites orbiting the Earth. It is among the groups that recognize the impact of GPS and the major contributions of West.
(Note, the U.S. Space Force was created in 2019 and now oversees spy satellites while NASA and NOAA still oversee civil and weather satellites).
Question: Who manages the U.S. Satellites?
The Early Years of GPS
The high-ranking Air Force honor recognizes the leaders of the early years of the Air Force space program. It salutes those whose vision "overcame the obstacles of the unknown." It says they "transformed the cutting edge of technology into operational systems" and dedicated their lives to exploring space for national security.
GPS technology aids America's space program and military applications, plus millions of smartphone and computer users. The technology also assists taxi services and a huge number of businesses and customers. They have benefited from West's calculations and research at Dahlgren since GPS became available to businesses in the 1980s.
Like GPS, other military innovations have revolutionized our everyday lives. They include jet engines, drones, microwave ovens and even waterproof duct tape.
The military used GPS in the mid-1990s for satellite-enhanced navigation for missile launching, communications, troop movements and other activities.
Q 4. In addition to the military, GPS technology also aids what other businesses and technologies?
Q 5. What decade did GPS become available for businesses?
Planetary and Satellite Work
In an interview for the 100th anniversary of the Navy's Dahlgren installation in 2018, West said that she had finished her mathematical education at the historically Black college, Virginia State University, and started a teaching job before taking a position at Dahlgren. She worked there from 1956 until she retired in 1998.
Q 6. Where did Gladys West attend College? What did she study?
At Dahlgren, West did the mathematical calculations to create the satellite-run radio navigation system operated by the U.S. Air Force. The system provides geolocation and time information to GPS receivers to determine locations. Geolocation is the process of finding and providing the exact location of an object such as a cellphone or internet-connected computer.
Not long after she was hired at the military installation in 1956, West took part in groundbreaking astronomical studies in addition to her GPS achievements. The studies were to determine the regularity of Pluto's motion relative to Neptune, along with other planetary work.
Q 7. Gladys West calculations led to GPS; a system that gives what two things to GPS receivers?
West did calculations by hand on a mechanical calculator. They had to confirm data, she said of her work from before a computer was installed at the naval base. "At that time, my title was mathematician, but just as I was coming to Dahlgren, they were getting a new computer in," she recalled, describing the state-of-the-art IBM Naval Ordnance Research Calculator (NORC). The NORC was arguably the most powerful computer of its day.
With the new computer, West worked on a model to use satellites. The system was to precisely measure surface elevations of the Earth and determine specific locations.
Q 8. Where did Gladys West make her big contributions to GPS?
Detailed , Carful Work
"That was sort of interesting. Those are the forerunner of the Global Positioning System," she said of her work. "When you look at the big picture, it was great, you know. But when you're working, you have got to be detailed, making sure you're accurate," she said, adding that she had the opportunity to work with "important, brilliant scientists" while at Dahlgren.
West is the only black woman to be inducted into the Air Force Missile and Space Pioneers Hall of Fame and was recently inducted into the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame.
There were few Black employees at Dahlgren then. West met her husband, Ira, there. The couple has three adult children and seven grandchildren.
Page updated
Report abuse