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A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Cel nav in space
From: Charles Seitz
Date: 2005 Jan 5, 11:29 -0500
From: Charles Seitz
Date: 2005 Jan 5, 11:29 -0500
A descripton of coordinate systems for space navigation: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/space/helios/coor_des.html Two Voyager space probes launched during the 70's are still on the JPL active mission list and NASA schedules regular communications sessions with them. They currently are well past the orbit of Pluto and may be considered to be in intersteller space. I have been considering asking the space navigators at NASA if they have noticed any anomolities in their trajectories as the gravitational influence of the sun deminishes. According to Einstein, space can actually be shaped by gravity fields. Maybe we might have enough knowledge navigate about our Milky Way galaxy but heading out to explore another galaxy who be a greatest venture into the unknown since Columbus sailed over the 'edge of the earth'. We would need to travel there at light speed, if that's possible. Would sightings need to be corrected for relativistic effects? How will we correct sightings for light being bent around black holes? --- CHAS ----- Original Message ----- From: "Fred Hebard"To: Sent: Monday, January 03, 2005 23 53 Subject: Re: Cel nav in space > On Jan 3, 2005, at 6:17 PM, Bill wrote: > >> What reference points and coordinate system(s) are used for navigation >> of >> spacecraft within our solar system, e.g. Earth to Moon, Earth to Mars, >> or >> potentially planet-to-planet, not including Earth? >> >> What reference points and coordinate system(s) are proposed for >> interstellar, intergalactic travel. How would Captain James Kirk et al >> navigate their way through the universe? >> >> Thanks >> >> Bill > > > Bill, > > There are some threads on this in the archives as far as solar system > navigation is concerned. I have never seen interstellar navigation > discussed; my impression is that people haven't worried about that > problem too much yet. > > For near Earth navigation, a geo-centric coordinate system is used, > with radar ranging to get distance from the earth. I can't remember > what "horizon" was proposed for this. > > For interplanetary stuff, my memory fails me as to coordinate system > and "horizon." > > Fred