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Spacecraft often use stars to orient themselves. The Voyager spacecraft have star trackers to keep the antenna pointing at Earth. They look for the Canopus star

Spacecraft often use stars to orient themselves. The Voyager spacecraft have star trackers to keep the antenna pointing at Earth. They look for the Canopus star.

stjohnswarts 5y ago
Don't they need more than 1 star to get an orientation? I mean other than brightness 1 star doesn't give you a lot of information?
- fho 5y ago
  I guess if they can confirm that it is a specific star they know where on a I finite line they are. If that line happens to be through earth and the space craft they know where to point their antenna.
- IMSAI8080 5y ago
  Yes, I think the tracker also uses the sun as I remember reading.