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 João Afonso da Costa de Sousa de Macedo, 1st Duke of Albuquerque "Dom" João Afonso da Costa de Sousa de Macedo (February 11, 1815 – September 24, 1890) was the 2nd Count of Mesquitela and 1st Duke of Albuquerque. Born and died in Lisbon, he was son of Luís da Costa de Sousa de Macedo e Albuquerque, the 1st Count of Mesquitela and Maria Inácia de Saldanha Oliveira e Daun, from the family of Marquis of Pombal. After his studies in the Nobility College ("Colégio dos Nobres") in Lisbon, he travelled around Europe (visiting Spain, France, and England) and was