Opinion - About 18 months ago Arthur Dula, a space lawyer, patent attorney and CEO of the private spaceflight company Excalibur Almaz, filed an international patent application (PCT/US2007/007407) for a solar system positioning system (SSPS, like a GPS but for the whole solar system). His patent was granted last month and proposes we send out dozens of satellites to various points around the solar system so any space vehicles will know where they are at all times.

If we forget the limited use nature of such a device, or how difficult it is to transmit data over many millions of miles through space, or that it's highly probable any space-faring agency would've already figured out how to get there and how to know where they were in the process, or that satellites are extremely expensive, then we must ask: what practical use would such a system be for anybody outside of his private spaceflight company?

Newton's laws have taken us to the moon and beyond the edge of our own solar system. A body in motion tends to stay in motion, and with computers today we can correct for all kinds of anomalies that would arise through gravitational pulls, positions of planets, moons, etc. We have all of the tools we need already, and they aren't very expensive.


Visual navigation

Once a spacecraft is outside of Earth's atmosphere, there is no significant impediment to viewing celestial bodies. Using visual cues from our sun, its planets and moons, applied to software algorithms that could compute every possible position of all of them at any point in the past, present or future, we could find our way with such amazing ease and limited expense.


Proximity navigation

In addition, it seems so obvious that as you approach a planet, moon, asteroid or whatever else you're going to, the closer you get the more clearly you're going to see it. You could use it as a perfect frame of reference to determine where you are, and much more accurately than any kind of SSPS would ever be. How many of us today have GPS devices that are constantly a few dozen feet off? My Garmin is sometimes accurate, sometimes a hundred or more feet off. The system is not perfect even here on Earth!


Conclusion

To date, the overwhelming majority of space flights by NASA have been a success. And when they haven't been, they've learned what the problem was and fixed it. Other countries have also had great success with the International Space Station (ISS) and planned manned flights to the moon by China, for example.

I truly believe that we already have all of the tools needed to be very accurate with any such "where am I?" endeavors. And the idea of solving real problems through thought, experimentation and mental exercise seems far more appropriate than simply throwing money at an expensive, useless solution. But then again, I am talking about an idea from the mind of a lawyer.

When possible make a legal u-turn on uranus

Sep 03, 2008 11:46     

Enter address: Saturn Distance: some million miles Time To Destination: 20 years voice direction: Please make a left turn at the moon. in 26 thousand miles make a right turn mars. watch out for asteroid belt in 20 thousand miles. now go straight on for about 200 thousand miles to reach your destination.(missed turn). Re-routing you to you destination. When possible make legal u-turn on uranus and go straight on for another 200 thousand miles. your destination is on your right. hope you enjoyed you space flight.

MetzMan007 report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +11

Amazing!

Sep 03, 2008 11:50     

Yes, what a wonderful use of millions, maybe even billions, of dollars that would be! And of course the required maintenance of the sattelites and replacing them when inevitably they fail. Not that I am against moving out into space, but this is not needed at this time.
Dr Stew Pidd PhD report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

The future..

Sep 03, 2008 12:24     

Once we have the ability to space travel, and every other person has a ship taking trips all around the galaxy, this device, just like GPS, may prove to be invaluable to people with a complete lack of direction (such as myself). I call his patent forward thinking!
P report abuse vote down vote up Votes: -3

stupid patent

Sep 03, 2008 12:50     

does this dumbass actually believe we're gonna use something like GPS in space? the lag will be too big to be accurate.
JohnnyricoMC report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +4

Another loose canon...

Sep 03, 2008 12:56     

Oh gees, why was this article even written? First of all, the implied thinking that the radio signals will be useless are stupid. If you know how GPS works, this will work perfectly in the space within our solar system, and probably quite a ways out. Second, comparing this to an Earth bound "Wal-Mart" category GPS device? What kind of crack are you smoking? Last, visual proximity? Since when were space craft made of 100% glass? please get a clue before you spout off again on something you are obviously not qualified to talk about. K?

Narg report abuse vote down vote up Votes: -6

@P

Sep 03, 2008 13:17     

His patent maybe forward thinking, but he or his company will probably have died long before this patent idea is feasible.
rodneyg report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +2

Brilliant...

Sep 03, 2008 13:20     

Brilliant idea. If he wants to fund it when the time comes, good for him. Smart to try and lock this down many years before it's needed for just the cost of a patent application. If the GPS system were privately owned, and access to it was licensed for a very small cost, how much do you think that company would make? What's going to be easier in 100-200 years, having a bunch of optical telescopes on the outside of your ship perfectly aligned and calibrated to determine your celestial position, or a fancy GPS type chip that can just determine your position within a few meters/few hundred meters for next to nothing. His great-grandchildren will likely be thankful. And if not, no big loss.

Dozer42 report abuse vote down vote up Votes: -1

He's a LAWYER!!!

Sep 03, 2008 14:02     

This guy has no intention of his idea becoming commercially available. He will eventually sue NASA or some other space organization saying they have infringed on his patent in how they track their space ship.
Bob report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +6

Prior art

Sep 03, 2008 14:08     

Now when some knucklehead patent troll 50 years from now tries to patent this to collect brain dead money, the companies that actually invested some real cash can point to this patent (which would have expired) and say "Prior Art".
Jim L report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Nice thing about this patent

Sep 03, 2008 14:14     

Is that by the time anyone gets around to make such a system the patent will have expired. And any IP company trying to to get rich by suing will be SOL because the patent already exists.
RichR report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +1

Brilliance!!!! But a little short sighted on purpose

Sep 03, 2008 15:05     

As long as it is privately funded and privately rewarded. The genius behind this concept is this is a multi-use purpose. Think about what we use current satellites for: GPS, Music(XM/Sirius), Radar, Pictures, etc. and then, think of and how to point, shoot and adjust rockets/shuttles to get into proper orbit/space destinations. It would be much more automatic and efficient to have Rockets/payload transport devices, possibly with multiple destinations. Connecting satellites/technology in space would make travel accuracy And how much quicker would information get back if we had orientation/technologies focusing on life points other than just earth. This is the raw beauty of the observational aspects. Would not satellites benefit from achieving geosynchronous orbit of other planets or comet ellipses paths to understand other celestial bodies other than earth. We all think from a local(worldly reference. Human planet travel can wait. Why don't we send out our technology and spare lives. Are we that humanly locked to a project to have to go ourselves? Just remember (philosophical moment) " OUR universe only extends as far as we been." As Humans or as our creations. Man, that's deep!

PD Austin Texas report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

His patent will expire in 20 years...

Sep 03, 2008 19:01     

Since I don't see space flight being common in twenty years (the time it takes for a patent to expire and become public domain), it could very well expire and this person wouldn't make a single dollar from it.
Rabbit report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +1