PROPOSED NAUTICAL UNITS OF LENGTH AND TIME

Dr. John C. Bellamy

Peer Reviewed

Abstract: The purpose here, is to define some units of length and time which might well be adopted as standards for coordinating the space-time positions of occurrences throughout, especially the Earth-centered region of the universe. The need for and potential utility of these units have been derived in an Orbital Operations Study with and for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Its purpose, as outlined in its Plan of Study,is to help establish more productively effective ways of controlling "orbital operations", defined to be "the activities of utilizing satellites in free-fall orbits around, especially, the planet Earth". The effectiveness of such control can he measured largely by the extent, quality and utility of the scientific engineering and operational data that the orbital operations produce. The utility of such data can be measured, in turn, by how well they serve to coordinate the space-time positions of occurences throughout the regions in which satellites operate and which they observe. The units of lengh and time proposed here offer a means of making these coordinating operations much more conveniently and usefully productive. More specifically, this Orbital Operations Study is concerned with better ways of portraying the information contained in vast amounts of quantitative data. Inherent to this problem is the selection of characteristically appropriate units with which to formulate the quantitative values to be portrayed. It is especially important that appropriate space-time coordinate systems and associated units of length and time be found, defined and used. Otherwise the basic goal of "portraying clear numerical pictures" of the occurrences of interest has been found to verge upon the imposible.
Published in: NAVIGATION: Journal of the Institute of Navigation, Volume 13, Number 1
Pages: 12 - 22
Cite this article: Bellamy, Dr. John C., "PROPOSED NAUTICAL UNITS OF LENGTH AND TIME", NAVIGATION: Journal of The Institute of Navigation, Vol. 13, No. 1, Spring 1966, pp. 12-22.
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