5 ms·
Am I right in thinking it didn't matter which star it locked onto, and it didn't need to know which star it was? Would it be a problem if it locked onto another
by palm-tree 5mo ago
Am I right in thinking it didn't matter which star it locked onto, and it didn't need to know which star it was? Would it be a problem if it locked onto another celestial body (e.g. Venus)?
- kens 5mo agoNo, it needed to lock onto the right star, the one that matched the coordinates. Otherwise, it would be pointing in a random direction. The navigator would check against three different stars to detect an error. The system could also use planets or even the sun for navigation. A special filter was used with the sun to avoid burning out the photomultiplier tube.
- js2 5mo agoAh, so it could be used in the daytime. I read the whole article assuming it was only useful at night. (When else would you be flying a bomber and need high accuracy?)
- teamonkey 5mo agoThe SR-71’s star tracker was so sensitive it could track stars during the day. https://theaviationgeekclub.com/the-sr-71-blackbird-astro-nav-system-aka-r2-d2-worked-by-tracking-the-stars-and-was-so-powerful-that-it-could-see-the-stars-even-in-daylight/ https://theaviationgeekclub.com/the-sr-71-blackbird-astro-na...
- spiritplumber 5mo agobeing halfway to space probably helped