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Science & Technology
World War II-era navigation system shut down
2010-02-10
We prefer a single point of failure, thankew....
Posted by:GolfBravoUSMC

#15  I try to keep the sextant in the box, but it goes with me offshore. Don't go far offshore without 2 means of navigation. Have to dig out the old Ray-Jeff.Jim
Posted by: notascrename   2010-02-10 20:49  

#14  Latitude from a shadow? Easy to within 30 miles. With a good sextant, make that a mile or less.

Longitude from a shadow? Nope - that's why Harrison struggled for decades to perfect his chronometers. Lunar distance tables work, also, but they are inaccurate compared to methods involving accurate clocks.
Posted by: KBK   2010-02-10 15:19  

#13  Still have Ageton HO 211 and my sextant. They may need to start calculating the lunar distance tables again, though.

Saving the stimulus for where it's really needed - say, the Murtha Memorial Catfish Race.
Posted by: KBK   2010-02-10 14:49  

#12  Glenmore: Cool little animated gif:

How to use a sextant.

Posted by: Anonymoose   2010-02-10 13:25  

#11  Hah, I was watching Revenge of the Nerds 2 and they figured latitude and longitude from a shadow. Both? Now either I don't know or they don't know, proving the point either way.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2010-02-10 12:55  

#10  Just another example of the academic mindset where everything is theoretically perfect vs the real world where things slop, leak and fail - and usually in such a way as to cause the most possible inconvenience and damage.

Like they say: In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice, but in practice there is.
Posted by: SteveS   2010-02-10 12:54  

#9  We still have an effective non-GPS nav system, and nobody can shut it down. Now if only there were still some navigators who knew how to use a sextant...
Posted by: Glenmore   2010-02-10 12:33  

#8  Know what else would save a couple of dollars? Mothball the Galactica.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2010-02-10 11:42  

#7  Just think how much could be saved at Government Motors Corporation [GMC] by just doing away with the emergency brakes on cars and trucks.

(ignoring the Chinese killer satellite tests aren't we)
Posted by: Procopius2k   2010-02-10 10:04  

#6  Depending on one system , putting all eggs in one basket , aint that wise

The more options available for nav-work the better imho.
Posted by: Oscar   2010-02-10 10:03  

#5  Maybe the Chinese will buy it for 10 cents on the dollar and ship it across the Pacific lock, stock and barrel like ex-US industry.
Posted by: ed   2010-02-10 09:45  

#4  A very bad idea, because not only is GPS seen as a threat by enemies of the US, but as allies of the US as well.

The EU is planning the Galileo system, Beidou and COMPASS by China, GLONASS by Russia, IRNSS by India, and QZSS by Japan.

Yet a single solar storm to take them all out. And solar storms are common. Especially after such an extended quiet solar period.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2010-02-10 09:34  

#3  The yahoos have better uses for 38 million. They are probably congratulating themselves on the decision.
Posted by: john frum   2010-02-10 08:30  

#2  190$ million$ in five years. That is 38 million a year saved by Obama. Wow! I am sure it will make a differnce on the multi-trillion deficit. In the meantime America is left without a backup to GPS were it taken down by thugs, terrorists or the Chinese.
Posted by: JFM   2010-02-10 07:50  

#1  Did the Chinese tell Barry to shut these sites down?
Posted by: Besoeker   2010-02-10 07:44  

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