NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Cel nav in space
From: Fred Hebard
Date: 2005 Jan 5, 01:39 -0500
From: Fred Hebard
Date: 2005 Jan 5, 01:39 -0500
On Jan 5, 2005, at 12:28 AM, Frank Reed wrote: > > For a peek at "early" ideas on cel nav in space, take a look at > article 2809 in the 1966 Bowditch (probably written for the 1962 > corrected edition). It's all obsolete now, but it's interesting to see > a perspective that's largely pre-computer. > > -FER > 42.0N 87.7W, or 41.4N 72.1W. > www.HistoricalAtlas.com/lunars > The 1962 Bowditch indeed contain an article 2809 on space navigation. I speculate that it may be based on the "Space Navigation Handbook," Navpers 92988, published in 1962. This was referenced a few years ago on this list, and copies were available then on Amazon.com or similar. The Handbook was developed by a class at the Naval Academy taught by Captain PVH Weems, who was recalled to active duty to teach it. His class was composed of four ROTC Ensigns with fresh degrees in math/physics/astronomy, etc. I believe Weems developed H.O. 249, the Air Almanac, and, of course, the Weems and Plath firm, which is still in business. The article and handbook mention various methods of navigation, including more-or-less standard position fixing on the earth's surface with sextant observations of star altitudes. Aside from radar ranging, the distance to the earth also can be determined by measuring its semidiameter. Many additional techniques are discussed in the book. The Bowditch article gives a nice summary.