The story of invisible space clocks!
Imagine you're blindfolded in a huge field. Your friends are standing at 3 different spots, each holding a horn.
When Friend A blows their horn, you hear it first. Then Friend B, then Friend C.
By timing how long each sound took to reach you, you can figure out how far away each friend is!
With 3 friends, you can pinpoint exactly where you are in the field!
Watch how satellites pinpoint your location!
There are about 30 GPS satellites orbiting Earth right now!
Each satellite has an atomic clock that's accurate to within a billionth of a second.
Your phone listens to signals from these satellites and calculates how long each signal took to arrive.
Light travels super fast - about 186,000 miles per SECOND!
If the satellite's clock is off by just 1 millionth of a second, your location could be wrong by almost 200 meters!
That's why GPS satellites need atomic clocks - regular clocks aren't accurate enough!
📍 Navigation: Finding your way in a new city
🚗 Ride Share: Uber and Lyft know where you are
✈️ Airplanes: Pilots use GPS to navigate
🌾 Farming: Tractors drive themselves using GPS
📱 Games: Pokemon GO and Ingress use your location!