Jun 4, 2018 · How a tool from the Age of Discovery found use in the Space Age. The Apollo program utilized a sextant, a centuries-old navigational instrument, as a backup guidance and navigation …

Discover how a centuries-old maritime tool, the sextant, guided Apollo astronauts to the Moon and back—even saving lives during the Apollo 13 crisis.

A navigation device used by Apollo astronauts to align the inertial navigation system and verify tracking data by sighting stars and celestial horizons. Part of Apollo spacecraft navigation system.

The Apollo sextant combined two separate optical devices that worked in conjunction as a functioning sextant: a 1x wide-field telescope (which was used to identify a target constellation or a single star) …

It consisted of three principal parts. One was an inertial measurement unit (IMU), which contained gryoscopes and accelerometers that established a base position and attitude for the craft. The …

Explore how Apollo astronauts used the navigation sextant and celestial mechanics to guide their spacecraft. A deep dive into the engineering, math, and human skill behind deep space navigation.

Oct 12, 2022 · The Apollo optical Sextant is used to update the vehicles State Vector. It is capable of sighting two celestial targets simultaneously and measuring the angle between them.

Jul 21, 2019 · Not only did a sextant help to get to the moon, but Astronaut Jim Lovell’s use of a sextant would be instrumental in saving the crippled Apollo 13 in 1970. The Apollo sextant was a modern …

While this instrument does not look like a traditional sextant, the basic procedure is descended from centuries-old methods used by navigators at sea and in the air. To determine position in space, an …

The command module's optics system, called the ‘space sextant’ flew on each Apollo mission, and took the naval sextant to a whole new level. It was a fail safe navigation system that required no power to …