Near Great Falls in Fairfax County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
U.S. Army Map Service
Photographed By J. J. Prats, June 24, 2017
1. U.S. Army Map Service Marker
Inscription.
U.S. Army Map Service. . Here, at a former Nike missile site, the U.S. Army Map Service established a research station to support geo-location and navigation in 1961. Two years later, the Map Service Initiated a significant satellite tracking program that became part of the Defense Mapping Agency in 1972. This tracking system contributed fundamentally to the Global Positioning System (GPS). The data gathered here enabled geospatial scientists to establish precise geographical reference points on the Earth’s surface and to refine their estimates of the Earth’s true shape and variations in its gravity field. This facility closed In 1993.
Here, at a former Nike missile site, the U.S. Army
Map Service established a research station to
support geo-location and navigation in 1961. Two
years later, the Map Service Initiated a significant
satellite tracking program that became part of
the Defense Mapping Agency in 1972. This tracking
system contributed fundamentally to the Global
Positioning System (GPS). The data gathered here
enabled geospatial scientists to establish precise
geographical reference points on the Earth’s surface
and to refine their estimates of the Earth’s true
shape and variations in its gravity field. This
facility closed In 1993.
Erected 2017 by Department of Historic Resources. (Marker Number E-143.)
Location. 38° 59.866′ N, 77° 18.866′ W. Marker is near Great Falls, Virginia, in Fairfax County. Marker is on Springvale Road (County Route 673) just south of Georgetown Pike (Virginia Route 193). Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Great Falls VA 22066, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Also see . . . 1. Wikipedia entry for Global Positioning System. “During Labor Day weekend in 1973, a meeting of about twelve military officers at the Pentagon discussed the creation of a Defense Navigation Satellite System (DNSS). It was at this meeting that the real synthesis that became GPS was created. Later that year, the DNSS program was named Navstar, or Navigation System Using Timing and Ranging. With the individual satellites being associated with the name Navstar (as with the predecessors Transit and Timation), a more fully encompassing name was used to identify the constellation of Navstar satellites, Navstar-GPS.” (Submitted on June 26, 2017.)
Credits. This page was last revised on July 7, 2021. It was originally submitted on June 26, 2017, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. This page has been viewed 928 times since then and 36 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on June 26, 2017, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio.
