At a former Nike missile site, the U.S. Army Map Service established a research station in 1961 to support geo-location and navigation. Two years later, it initiated a significant satellite tracking program that became part of the Defense Mapping Agency in 1972. This tracking system contributed fundamentally to the Global Positioning System (GPS). Data gathered there enabled geospatial scientists to establish precise geographical reference points on the Earth’s surface and refine estimates of the Earth’s true shape and variations in its gravity field. The facility closed in 1993.
