NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: PVH Weems. Was Sidereal Hour Angle vs. Right Ascension
From: Robert Eno
Date: 2005 Aug 17, 10:07 -0400
From: Robert Eno
Date: 2005 Aug 17, 10:07 -0400
Gidday Fred, I have a copy of a book entitled: "Space Navigation Handbook" (NAVPERS 92988). It was kindly given to me by one of the list members in response to a question I posed about space navigation several years ago. Is this the one you are referring to? Weems figures prominently in this one too. What is interesting about Weems, is that he was an airman, yet his innovations seem to have done much to further the practice of marine navigation. I say "interesting" because initially, air navigation techniques appear to have been borrowed and then modified from the marine field. I am a keen admirer of Weems (and of the great US Navy). I had the pleasure of knowing some of his former associates and colleagues -- most of whom has passed away -- however, I never had the honour of meeting the man himself. He died about 4 years before I even learned how to use a sextant. Story of my life: always missing the boat! I'm a contrarian. I take great pride in not knowing the names or the faces of the vacuous Hollywood non-entities and the prima donnas of the sports fields, upon whom the public, for reasons which baffle me, heap praise and adulation. I wouldn't walk across the street to meet a movie star or or so-called sports hero, but I damn well would have crossed a stormy strait in a bathtub to meet Commander P.V.H. Weems and his contemporaries. They just don't make 'em like that anymore. Robert ----- Original Message ----- From: "Fred Hebard"To: Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2005 8:50 AM Subject: Re: PVH Weems. Was Sidereal Hour Angle vs. Right Ascension > Robert, > > If you can get a copy of the Navy's booklet on space navigation (as in > rocketships to the moon, etc), it is fascinating to read for how it was > put together, as well as for the proposed techniques. It was developed > by Weems in the late 50s, early 60s, with the help of smart, freshly > minted officers from naval reserve officer training programs at various > civilian universities around the country. > > Fred >