Astronautics professor Grace Gao is an authority on the Global Positioning System. GPS has long been key to navigation on Earth, she says, but science is now shifting its focus outward to the frontiers of space. Gao is working on a GPS-like system for the Moon. To keep costs low, this lunar positioning system will leverage Earth-based satellites complemented by a network of smaller satellites in lunar orbit. It could lead to autonomous vehicles on the moon and a new era of lunar exploration, Gao tells host Russ Altman on this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast. 

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Episode Reference Links:

• Stanford Profile: Grace Gao
• Grace’s Labe:Stanford NAV Lab

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• Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website
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Chapters:

(00:00:00) Introduction

Russ Altman introduces Grace Gao, a professor of aeronautics and astronautics at Stanford University.

(00:02:15) GNSS vs. GPS

The difference between GPS and GNSS, and the different global navigation systems.

(00:03:09) How Does GPS Work? 

GPS operation, including the role of satellites, ground monitoring stations, and user receivers.

(00:04:07) GPS Signal and Satellites

How GPS uses multiple satellites and how the different global systems collaborate to improve accuracy.

(00:05:23) GPS Challenges in Cities

Issues with GPS in urban environments and the importance of reliability and safety.

(00:07:53) Improving GPS Accuracy

Multimodal sensor fusion helps enhance GPS accuracy in challenging environments.

 (00:10:11) Collaboration Among Autonomous Vehicles

The potential for autonomous vehicles to share information for better navigation and safety.

(00:14:07) GPS Safety and Signal Jamming

GPS safety concerns and real-world signal disruption examples.

(00:18:56) GPS in Space Travel

How GNSS and Earth-based GPS systems can support space missions.

(00:25:05) Designing Lunar GPS

The cost and coverage challenges of creating a lunar navigation system.

(00:27:13) Autonomous Moon Rovers

NASA’s plans for collaborative autonomous rovers on the Moon.

(00:30:42) Conclusion

Connect With Us:

Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website

Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon

Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook