The Sky is the Limit

Artist rendition of a GPS Block II-F satellite in orbit around the Earth. 31 such satellites make up the system known as GPS.

GPS -- the system of 31 American satellites that can accurately pinpoint the location of any receiver on Earth within an accuracy of two meters -- started as a project launched in 1973 by the Department of Defense for use by the United States military (NASA). The original system was called NavStar and consisted of 24 satellites meant to aid in defense against Soviet aggression (NOVA). Over time, the US military continued to develop and enhance the system, and by 1995 GPS was fully functional and made available for civilian use.

Civilians were impacted by the technological development of GPS in many ways as the system became more and more available for use outside of the military. Companies like Mapquest and Magellan utilized data provided by GPS to provide users accurate directions between any two places on Earth. As computing technology became more refined, data from the GPS became more and more useful. Smartphones utilized data provided by GPS to enhance call quality and reliability, as well as offer location services for higher functionality. Companies like Google, Apple, and Facebook rely on GPS to track information about users’ movements, which raises a question about the ethics of a Global Position System owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Air Force. Although GPS has many beneficial uses, it is hard not to think that a government -- or a corporation -- could use such a system to collect too much data on individuals.

The use of unmanned aircraft to deliver explosive payloads has been around since World War I, but the development of the technology that turned those into the drones we know today was a game of stepping stones between the United States military and Israel.

During the Yom Kippur War, the Israeli Air Force expanded on the developments the United States military made on unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, during Vietnam by adding real-time surveillance and data link capabilities to their Tadiran Mastiff (History of Information). The combat potential displayed in the Israeli UAV models spurred the US military to begin aggressive funding and research campaigns to develop UAV technology further. By the Gulf War in 1991, the United States Navy was using the AAI Pioneer --the first modern drone (The United States Navy).

The military wanted drones badly, and as we have learned over the last few years as the technology has been even more refined and miniaturized, so did civilians. According to Business Insider, $799 million was spent on drones in 2016, and that number only seems to be going up. Drones are a common sight to see today, but that wasn’t always the case. The use of drones by amatuer photographers, action sports stars, RC hobbyists, and many others is an example of a technology that was explicitly developed for strategic wartime use by the US military that was then transformed into an everyday part of American culture.

Many of the things that are considered part of the American cultural essence actually draw their roots from innovations and advancements made by the United States military during times of war or conflict. From Jeeps to microwaves to M&M’s, the development of technology itself can go on to directly influence a culture.

By Jakob Sergei Weitz, senior English major at LMU.