Luisa F.

Valderrama
EN.525.645.81.SP20 Modern Navigation Systems
Spring 2020

Assignment 1
 
1. Explain how a bicycle works. Does this have to do with navigation, or with guidance
and control? Why do cyclists like lightweight wheels? What is the disadvantage of
lightweight wheels? What does this have to do with the operation of a Segway
scooter?

A bicycle works by a pair of gears linked with a chain that helps moving the two wheels.
It doesn’t have to do a lot with navigation. However, it is related to guidance and control
since the bicycle uses the handlebar lever to make turns and to help control the bicycle’s
stability.

2. Name ten stars and five constellations.

Constellations
 Orion
 Gemini
 Perseus
 Hercules
 Big Dipper
Stars
 Sun
 Sirius
 Vega
 Antares
 Polaris
 Betelgeuse
 Rigel
 Pleiades
 Canopus
 Mira

3. If the moon rises at 6 PM on Monday, when does it rise on Tuesday?

6am

4. What is UTC? How does it differ from GPS time?

UTC is a universal coordinated time scale while GPS time is a continuous time scale with
no leap seconds, which means that currently GPS time is ahead of UTC by 18 seconds.
5. How long is a year? How long does a bank think a year is?

A year is 365 days. For banks is probably the same. However, financially speaking fiscal
year usually start in October and end on September of the following year.

6. What error did Microsoft make concerning the last February 29 th leap day in early
releases of key software packages?

It incorrectly assumes that 1900 is a leap year.

7. Go outside on a clear night and sketch the positions of Cassiopeia and Ursa Major
with respect to Polaris. Repeat this an hour later.

Cassiopeia and Ursa Major circle around Polaris in a period of 23 hours and 56 minutes.
So if you look at them with an hour of difference you will noticed how they have rotated
counterclockwise.

8. When you tie a necktie, and have to make several attempts to get it right (in terms of
length), how fast does the error in length converge in terms of number of attempts and
the residual error?

The more attempts, the fastest the error will increase.

9. The same question, posed differently: A circuit board has 100 uniformly arranged
power lines. If one of these lines is shorted, how many of the lines need to be
disconnected in order to localize the fault? Assume that a single bus links the lines
together, and this bus can be interrupted in places that disconnect all of the lines to
the right of the point of interruption. (This will be explained in class.) What might
this have to do with the distance an aircraft must be from a runway before it begins an
instrument approach?

The aircraft won’t be able to land and will remain in airspace.

10. What is the relationship between a nautical mile and the circumference of the earth?
How does this relate to a statute mile? Is there an analogous situation for how time is
defined (seconds as part of a year, as opposed to seconds as a prescribed number of
atomic vibrations)? What is a "knot" in terms of speed?

The earth circumference can be expressed as 21,639 nautical miles. A knot is equal to a
nautical mile per hour.

11. Is the earth spherical? What common mathematical technique used by electrical
engineers to model perturbations to the earth’s gravitational field that result from
deviations from the earth’s being a perfect sphere?
Earth is not spherical per say since it is flattened at the poles.
12. Who are July and August named after? What are the other months named after?

July is named after the Roman emperor Julius Caesar since it was the month he was born.
August is named after Roman military leader Augustus Caesar. September through
December names from the Roman numbers for seven through ten. While the remaining
months are named after gods.

13. Why does an aircraft, in general, not point the direction in which it is flying?

There are routes they have to follow regardless of the direction of their destination.

14. When landing an aircraft, what does a pilot do to eliminate the crab angle?

Opposite rudder is applied to eliminate crab angle.

15. What colors are the navigation lights on an airplane?

Left wing has a red light, right wing has a green light, and tail has a white light

16. What is a "coordinated turn" in an aircraft?

It is a turn in which the bank angle of the aircraft compliments its rate of turn

17. Why can't you see Orion in July?

Orion appear during the day during the summertime.

18. What is the Zodiac?

It is an area of the sky.

19. What effect was measured to obtain range information from Sputnik?

Sputnik had four external radio antennas that broadcasted radio pulses. Therefore, I
assume signal propagation of its radio signals was used to know range information.

20. How many thunderstorms are there at any given instant on the planet?

1800 thunderstorms can occur at any given instant.

21. Have navigation errors been blamed for any major plane crashes?

Sensors giving bad readings, weather such dense fog and lack of terrain warning systems.

22. Why do pilots refer to altitudes as "flight levels"?

Flight levels are not technically indication of altitude but indications of pressure.

23. How many stars are considered suitable for navigation?

3 to5 fives starts

24. How might cell phones be tracked for purposes of improving the 911 system?

If the person is unable to say his/her location, cellphone trackers can help the first
responders to find the person.

25. What general rule of designing a good mathematical algorithm does GPS routinely
violate?

Runtime analysis

26. Why do navigators like Mercator projections? Why do aviators like Lambeth
projections? What is the difference?

Navigators like Mercator projections because directions are easily transferred from point
to point using parallel rulers or a pair of navigational protractor triangles. Aviators prefers
Lambert projections the conversions from geodetic to state plane grid is relatively easy
and straight forward.

27. What effect do humans use for range-finding?

Rangefinders emit laser beams to a distant object and it measures the total time it took
from when the beam left until it returned.

28. Where in the sky and at what time should you attempt to view the planet Mercury?

Right now, you can see Mercury one hour after sunset looking west.

29. Why do the local weather reports include information on tides?

Tides affect the movement of ocean current, which affect the weather through the amount
of warming or cooling moving through a given area.

30. Look at the North star, and if visible: Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, its moons, Saturn, and
if you have a telescope, its moons. Also plan to look at the International Space
Station. Can you see Venus before the sun sets?

In February you can see Venus in the west-southwest sky after sunset.