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Sextant, Apollo Guidance and Navigation System
Item Details
Manufacturer: Kollsman Instrument Company
Manufactured: 1960's
Description:
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. Consisted of two telescopes: a wide-field scanning telescope and a 28-power sextant. Used to help compute spacecraft position during missions.
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. Consisted of two telescopes: a wide-field scanning telescope and a 28-power sextant. Used to help compute spacecraft position during missions.
Item History:
First tested during Apollo 8 mission in December 1968. Helped navigate spacecraft between Earth and Moon. Backup to ground-based navigation systems. Astronauts periodically used a sextant to sight on stars and the horizons of the Earth and Moon to align the inertial system.
First tested during Apollo 8 mission in December 1968. Helped navigate spacecraft between Earth and Moon. Backup to ground-based navigation systems. Astronauts periodically used a sextant to sight on stars and the horizons of the Earth and Moon to align the inertial system.
Additional Images
Apollo sextant
James Lovell using sextant
Location/Ownership: National Air and Space Museum
Submission Author: Paul E. Ceruzzi, National Air and Space Museum
ION Museum
Advancing Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT)
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