Q: What is the significance of the NANUs provided by GPS and the similar alerts provided by other GNSS constellations? Are they needed for the use of these systems, and if not, how are they helpful?
SAM PULLEN, Stanford University A: Since at least 1997, the Global Positioning System (GPS) Control Segment (CS) has issued what are known as “Notice Advisor(ies) to NAVSTAR Users” or “NANU(s).” As originally reported in Section 3.5 of the 2001 version of the GPS SPS Performance Standard (GPS SPS PS), these provide “notification of changes in constellation operational status that affect the service being provided to GPS users, or if the U.S. Government anticipates a problem in supporting performance standards established in this document.” The most recent 5th Edition of the GPS SP...