Tri-Service

Naval Academy Reinstates Star Navigation Amid Hack Fears

Concerns about possible cyber attacks have led Maryland's Naval Academy to teach cadets how to navigate using the stars.

The US Navy's move to reintroduce teaching the technique, for the first time in 20 years, comes amid fears of having its navigational tools hacked.

Lieutenant Commander Ryan Rogers, the deputy chairman of the academy's Department of Seamanship and Navigation, told The Capital newspaper:

"We went away from celestial navigation because computers are great. The problem is, there’s no backup."

Astronauts on Apollo 12 used celestial navigation when the craft was disabled by lightning.

In earlier times it was used by ancient Polynesians to guide them across the Pacific, whilst it also took Ernest Shackleton to remote parts of Antarctica.

It's use came into decline, however, with the invention of newer navigational tools like GPS, which were more precise.

The system relies on 31 satellites, which circle the Earth twice a day, to locate ships with accuracy of a few feet.

By comparison, celestial navigation isn't exact, with locations able to be calculated within 1.5 miles. Lieutenant Commander Rogers added:

"[Using GPS] you're within feet. You're not even in the same ballpark. If you can use GPS, it's just so much more accurate... [But] we know there are cyber vulnerabilities."