Patent ID: 7388538

Claim:
A method of determining an orientation of a spinning object at a known global positioning system (GPS) location, said method comprising: radially deploying antennae around a plurality of axes of measurement of said spinning object; determining a spin axis of a first end of said spinning object; determining a sensing vector orthogonal to said spin axis; identifying at least two known GPS locations corresponding to said spinning object; and rotating said sensing vector about said spin axis until two of the known GPS locations become visible or are in the plane of said sensing vector and said spin axis, wherein a first point of rotation of said sensing vector exists when a first known GPS location becomes visible or is in said plane of said sensing vector and said spin axis, and wherein a second point of rotation of said sensing vector exists when a second known GPS location becomes visible or is in said plane of said sensing vector and said spin axis; calculating a rotational distance between said first point of rotation of said sensing vector and said second point of rotation of said sensing vector; calculating a roll angle corresponding to said spinning object in relation to a first plane of said GPS location by normalizing said sensing vector at said first point of rotation of said sensing vector and said second point of rotation of said sensing vector; repeating calculating a roll angle for multiple planes of said GPS location; and combining the roll angles calculated thereby to produce said orientation of said spinning object.