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I suspect that landing on aircraft carriers is a skill that they do not want people to forget. For example, the military has recently started teaching officers
by philip1209 9y ago
I suspect that landing on aircraft carriers is a skill that they do not want people to forget. For example, the military has recently started teaching officers celestial navigation because GPS can be jammed [1].
[1] https://www.npr.org/2016/02/22/467210492/u-s-navy-brings-back-navigation-by-the-stars-for-officers https://www.npr.org/2016/02/22/467210492/u-s-navy-brings-bac...
- dalbasal 9y agoA few years ago, I saw Captain Cook-looking gear at a friend's house. I knew he like boats, so I thought these were collectibles. Turns out that he was a sea scout, as a kid. Civilian GPS wasn't available in the early 2000s... at least not to amateur navigators. I think it only became standard for airlines in the 90s and militaries in the 80s. That GPS is new is not surprising. That one tech-generation back is "celestial navigation" with a sextant is shocking (at least it was to me). It was like discovering that before smartphones the closest thing available was signal fires.^ Good reminder that tech can work in big leaps, and that a good technology can last a long time. Moore's law has been such a factor for digital technology, that we can forget it is not the norm. BTW, the alternative to GPS (unless you have a terrestrial signal) for airlines is computerized dead reckoning, the equivalent of throwing a log tied to a rope overboard and counting knots, but a computer counts the knots.
- philip1209 9y agoFun fact: the SR-71 spy plane uses computer-based celestial navigation https://timeandnavigation.si.edu/multimedia-asset/nortronics-nas-14v2-astroinertial-navigation-system https://timeandnavigation.si.edu/multimedia-asset/nortronics...
- dalbasal 9y agoThis is a fun fact.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]