Episode #501: From Atomic Clocks to Smartphones: The Real Story of GPS
In this episode of Crazy Wisdom, host Stewart Alsop talks with Richard Easton, co-author of GPS Declassified: From Smart Bombs to Smartphones, about the remarkable history behind the Global Positioning System and its ripple effects on technology, secrecy, and innovation. They trace the story from Roger Easton’s early work on time navigation and atomic clocks to the 1973 approval of the GPS program, the Cold War’s influence on satellite development, and how civilian and military interests shaped its evolution. The conversation also explores selective availability, the Gulf War, and how GPS paved the way for modern mapping tools like Google Maps and Waze, as well as broader questions about information, transparency, and the future of scientific innovation. Learn more about Richard Easton’s work and explore early GPS documents at gpsdeclassified.com, or pick up his book GPS Declassified: From Smart Bombs to Smartphones.
Check out this GPT we trained on the conversation
Timestamps
00:00 – Stewart Alsop introduces Richard Easton, who explains the origins of GPS, its 12-hour satellite orbits, and his father Roger Easton’s early time navigation work.
05:00 – Discussion on atomic clocks, the hydrogen maser, and how technological skepticism drove innovation toward the modern GPS system.
10:00 – Miniaturization of receivers, the rise of smartphones as GPS devices, and early mapping tools like Google Maps and Waze.
15:00 – The Apollo missions’ computer systems and precision landings lead back to GPS development and the 1973 approval of the joint program office.
20:00 – The Gulf War’s use of GPS, selective availability, and how civilian receivers became vital for soldiers and surveyors.
25:00 – Secrecy in satellite programs, from GRAB and POPPY to Eisenhower’s caution after the U-2 incident, and the link between intelligence and innovation.
30:00 – The myth of the Korean airliner sparking civilian GPS, Reagan’s policy, and the importance of declassified documents.
35:00 – Cold War espionage stories like Gordievsky’s defection, the rise of surveillance, and early countermeasures to GPS jamming.
40:00 – Selective availability ends in 2000, sparking geocaching and civilian boom, with GPS enabling agriculture and transport.
45:00 – Conversation shifts to AI, deepfakes, and the reliability of digital history.
50:00 – Reflections on big science, decentralization, and innovation funding from John Foster to SpaceX and Starlink.
55:00 – Universities’ bureaucratic bloat, the future of research education, and Richard’s praise for the University of Chicago’s BASIC program.
Key Insights
- GPS was born from competing visions within the U.S. military. Richard Easton explains that the Navy and Air Force each had different ideas for navigation satellites in the 1960s. The Navy wanted mid-Earth orbits with autonomous atomic clocks, while the Air Force preferred ground-controlled repeaters in geostationary orbit. The eventual compromise in 1973 created the modern GPS structure—24 satellites in six constellations—which balanced accuracy, independence, and resilience.
- Atomic clocks made global navigation possible. Roger Easton’s early insight was that improving atomic clock precision would one day enable real-time positioning. The hydrogen maser, developed in 1960, became the breakthrough technology that made GPS feasible. This innovation turned a theoretical idea into a working global system and also advanced timekeeping for scientific and financial applications.
- Civilian access to GPS was always intended. Contrary to popular belief, GPS wasn’t a military secret turned public after the Korean airliner tragedy in 1983. Civilian receivers, such as TI’s 4100 model, were already available in 1981. Reagan’s 1983 announcement merely reaffirmed an existing policy that GPS would serve both military and civilian users.
- The Gulf War proved GPS’s strategic value. During the 1991 conflict, U.S. and coalition forces used mostly civilian receivers after the Pentagon lifted “selective availability,” which intentionally degraded accuracy. GPS allowed troops to coordinate movement and strikes even during sandstorms, changing modern warfare.
- Secrecy and innovation were deeply intertwined. Easton recounts how classified projects like GRAB and POPPY—satellites disguised as scientific missions—laid technical groundwork for navigation systems. The crossover between secret defense projects and public science fueled breakthroughs but also obscured credit and understanding.
- Ending selective availability unleashed global applications. When the distortion feature was turned off in May 2000, GPS accuracy improved instantly, leading to new industries—geocaching, precision agriculture, logistics, and smartphone navigation. This marked GPS’s shift from a defense tool to an everyday utility.
- Innovation’s future may rely on decentralization. Reflecting on his father’s era and today’s landscape, Easton argues that bureaucratic “big science” has grown sluggish. He sees promise in smaller, independent innovators—helped by AI, cheaper satellites, and private space ventures like SpaceX—continuing the cycle of technological transformation that GPS began.
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