Pakistan adopts Chinese GPS satellite system, despite cheap, unreliable service

Pakistan is set to become the fifth Asian country to use China's cheap domestic satellite navigation system which was launched as a rival to the US global positioning system.

The Beidou, or Compass, system started providing services to civilians in the region in December and is expected to provide global coverage by 2020. It also has military applications.

Thailand, China, Laos and Brunei already use the cheap Chinese system, which currently consists of 16 operational satellites, with 30 more due to join the system.

Huang Lei, international business director of BDStar Navigation, which promotes Beidou, stated that the company would build a network of stations in Pakistan to enhance the location accuracy of Beidou.

He said building the network would cost tens of millions of dollars.

American website Defensenews.com reported early May that Pakistani military experts were in favour of using the Chinese system, even though the availability of the signal could not be guaranteed in case of conflict.

But according to one of them, Pakistan "cannot place its trust in the United States."

"Pakistan's armed forces cannot rely on US GPS because of its questionable availability during a conflict that has overtones of nuclear escalation," former Pakistan Air Force pilot Kaiser Tufail told the site.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang travels next week to Pakistan, a long time ally, after a visit to India.

NASA: Adopts e-book reader format for communications

NASA aeronautics research has kicked off an ongoing project to format archived and government-published books that can be read on digital devices. Credit: NASA

E-book readers are expected to be among the hottest holiday gifts this year and their growing popularity has stirred NASA to begin reformatting its most popular aviation books to be compatible with the digital devices.

Available on the NASA aeronautics research Web site, the e-books can be downloaded at no charge for use with the Kindle™, SONY® Reader and, eventually, the nook™. Other formats for those without an e-book reader will be available as well.

The first NASA book to be made available is X-15: Extending the Frontiers of Flight by Dennis R. Jenkins. The book tells the story of the pioneering rocketplane that tested the limits of aviation during the 1960s and directly influenced the design and operation of the space shuttle.

"NASA's contributions to aviation affect everyone who has ever stepped foot inside an airplane. Now anyone can read about this historic aeronautical research with the convenience of a hand-held device," said Jaiwon Shin, associate administrator for NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate.

Next up on the list of books offered is Apollo of Aeronautics: NASA's Aircraft Energy Efficiency Program, 1973-1987 by Mark D. Bowles. This award-winning publication details the innovative research to improve aircraft and jet engine design in order to reduce fuel consumption by 50 percent.

And even as all archived NASA aeronautics books are being reformatted for use with the various e-book readers, plans are set for all future government-published books covering NASA's aeronautics research to be made available in e-book format.

Read More at NASA E-book site..........