Multimedia Gallery
- Navigation Methods: Celestial Navigation
The periscopic sextant eliminated the need for astrodomes.
Lines of latitude are imaginary lines circling the globe parallel to the equator. The lines are designated in degrees north or south of the equator, from 0° at the equator to 90° at the poles.
Lt. Lester Maitland and Lt. Hegenberger with the Fokker C-2 Bird of Paradise.
In 1837, Captain Thomas Sumner of Boston devised what would become "line of position" sailing.
The Link A-12 Sextant represented a new generation of “averaging” sextants.
Lizards, South America (Teius teguixin, Brachylophus fasciatus, Hoplodactylus pomarii)
This Lockheed RC-121D featured periscopic sextant ports for celestial sightings, eliminating the need for astrodomes.
Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne Morrow made a series of transoceanic airline survey flights in this Lockheed Sirius.
Advances in computing made celestial navigation practical for the Mach 3+ SR-71.
The Astroinertial Navigation System helped this SR-71 Blackbird's crew set a coast-to-coast speed record of only 68 minutes.
