Ivan A. Getting

	Ivan A. Getting Physicist, Engineer and Aerospace Visionary
	Ivan Getting was born in New York City on January 18, 1912. He earned his B.S. in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an Edision Scholar, graduating first in his class in 1933. In 1935, as a Rhodes Scholar, he earned his doctorate in astrophysics from Oxford University. As a Harvard Fellow, from 1935 to 1940, he researched the subjects of cosmic rays and nuclear physics, and designed and built the first high-speed binary counter, a basic component of digital computers. Getting returned to MIT in 1940, where he was instrumental in developing the first automatic tracking microwave fire control radar. His SCR-584 radar was credited with saving London from destruction by German V-1 buzz bombs in the Second World War. As Vice President for Research and Engineering at Raytheon from 1951 to 1960, Getting contributed to NASA's Gemini and Mercury space programs, and developed the "time difference of arrival" application for position location in three dimensions. Getting founded the Aerospace Corporation in 1960 and developed the revolutionary Global Positioning System (GPS). GPS gives precise, continuous positioning as well as accurate worldwide time, in conjuction with all types of navigation, surveying and geological appications using differential timing from four satellites. Dr. Getting died in Coronado, California on October 19, 2003.
	Elected to the International Aerospace Hall of Fame 2002