3 ms·

I had friends in college in the 1990s who were in the NROTC program. At the time I recall it was a big deal and discussion on campus that the Navy was removing

I had friends in college in the 1990s who were in the NROTC program. At the time I recall it was a big deal and discussion on campus that the Navy was removing/canceling requirements for celestial navigation. I think the reason cited was the prevalence of GPS. Here's a great article about how astronomers at Vanderbilt helped the Navy reintroduce celestial navigation back into the NROTC curriculum. >>>In the 1990’s increasing reliance on navigation technologies including GPS caused the Navy to drop celestial navigation from its officer training curriculum. Now, increasing awareness of the vulnerability of these systems to hacking and other types of disruption has prompted it to reintroduce the requirement. https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2017/07/26/vanderbilt-astronomers-help-nrotc-midshipmen-learn-celestial-navigation/ https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2017/07/26/vanderbilt-astronomer...

yardie 9y ago
Celestial navigation isn't difficult. I learned the basics in an afternoon. It requires a sextant, a calculation book, and a really good timepiece. If you've noticed that really expensive watches have a maritime theme it's because accuracy costs money in an era before NTP servers and GPS. In a small sailboat rocking in 3-4 foot waves I was accurate to ~50 miles. The crew member who taught me was accurate within a mile. He was also 65 and felt the GPS was almost as accurate as his sightings :-)