Cyber Threats Prompt US Naval Academy to Restore Celestial

This ancient science is known as celestial navigation, and it is performed using a sextant – a double-reflecting navigation instrument that uses mirrors to measure the angle between two visible object, first seen in the 18th century.

In the US Navy’s newest curriculum manual, celestial navigation is once again listed among course subjects. Ryan Rogers, the deputy chairman of the Naval Academy Department of Seamanship and Navigation, was quoted as saying by the Capital newspaper, which first reported the issue.

‘The problem is, there’s no backup’.

At the time when the Naval Academy’s celestial navigation class was cut, the New York Times explained that cadets were still taught how to use the sextant, but instead of doing the math to plot a course, they input data into a computer. The US Navy Academy stopped general instruction in celestial navigation back in 1998, and ended all training in the science in 2006.

The decline of celestial navigation coincided with the advent and launch of the GPS system, and to the older Long Range Navigation (LORAN) stations.

“Among many things that are considered when reinstituting a core competency into a navigation curriculum is the idea that GPS becomes inoperational, and that could result from anything ranging from a fire to operational error to system degradation or a cyberattack”, Schofield said. “You’re not even in the same ballpark”, said Rogers. “[But] we know there are cyber vulnerabilities”. There are now a total of 31 satellites that circle the Earth twice a day.

In the U.S., the Naval Academy hasn’t taught midshipmen how to navigate by the stars in 20 years, but it’s reintroducing the old-school approach to maritime travel. Frank Reed is an expert in celestial navigation.

“In the event that we had to go into a national emergency, we would probably have to shut the Global Positioning System down because it can be used by potential enemies”, Navy Capt. Terry Carraway said. However, in 2011, ship navigators’ celestial navigation training was reinstated, with training only for enlisted ranks planned.

The Gazette reported though that “instruction in celestial navigation ended entirely within years”. “It is also good professional practice to use one navigational system to verify the accuracy of another”. “We just added the theory, but we really do have the capabilities to expand”.