Ascension Island a staging point by the British military during the Falklands War. Ascension Island hosts one of four ground antennas (others are on Kwajalein Island, Diego Garcia, and Cape Canaveral) that assist in the operation of the Global Positioning System (GPS) navigational system. NASA operates a Meter Class Autonomous Telescope (MCAT) on Ascension Island for tracking orbital debris, which is potentially hazardous to operating spacecraft and astronauts, at a facility called the John Africano NASA/AFRL Orbital Debris Observatory. In 1501, the Portuguese navigator Afonso de Albuquerque sighted the island on Ascension Day (which fell on 21 May that year) and named
João Afonso da Costa de Sousa de Macedo, 1st Duke of Albuquerque Duke of Saldanha, who promised him the title of Duke. As he was not a politician, he refused both the post and the title. He was a remarkable and very considered person in Portuguese society, and King Luis I of Portugal, by a royal decree dated from May 19, 1886, granted him the title of Duke of Albuquerque. He did not marry nor had any issue. He was peerage both in United Kingdom and in Portugal: "Nobreza de Portugal e Brasil" - Vol II, page 215. Published by Zairol Lda., Lisbon 1989 João Afonso da Costa de Sousa de Macedo,