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Non-Tech : The Y2K Newspaper
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To: Bill Ounce who wrote (18)8/19/1999 10:04:00 AM
From: Bill Ounce  Read Replies (1) of 198
 
ComputerWorld: Satellite Date Change Has Users on Guard

computerworld.com

For the 24 satellites that make up the Global Positioning System (GPS), the "new
year" is arriving next weekend. The internal clocks in those satellites will reset for
the first time since the government started launching them in 1978. And that's
prompting users to take precautions, ranging from GPS system shutdowns to
simply warning employees to be ready for potential problems.

The GPS rollover has been likened to the year 2000 problem. On Jan. 5 to 6,
1980, when the system went live, GPS satellites began counting weeks from zero
to 1,023. On Aug. 21, the satellite clocks will reset, or "rollover," to zero and start
another two-decade count. Federal officials said the government-owned satellite
system will keep sending out position and timing data past the rollover date
without a hitch. But GPS systems that don't recognize the rollover could fail. GPS
systems are well known for providing location information, but they also send out
very precise time information used for timing computer networks.

[...]

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Related Articles

New York Times article:
nytimes.com
The US Coast Guard Navigational Center's notice about GPS:
navcen.uscg.mil
A list of 10 things that could go wrong when GPS rolls over:
news.bbc.co.uk
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