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 Telo, 1st Count of Barcelos Two daughters were born of this marriage: João Afonso Telo, 1st Count of Barcelos João Afonso Telo (died May 1304), was the 4th Lord of Albuquerque and the 1st Count of Barcelos. João Afonso Telo was the son of Rodrigo Anes de Meneses, 3rd Lord of Albuquerque, and Teresa Martins de Soverosa, daughter of Martim Gil de Soverosa and Inés Fernández de Castro His paternal grandparents were João Afonso Telo, 2nd Lord of Albuquerque, and his wife Elvira González Girón. A Castilian and Portuguese nobleman, he returned to Portugal, the birthplace of his parents, where he served King Denis as