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A comment on SR-71 Blackbird Astro-Nav System (a.k.a. R2-D2) worked by tracking the stars. Parent comment

Re:SR-71 Blackbird Astro-Nav System (a.k.a. R2-D2) worked by... by porphyra on Monday September 25, 2023 @07:05PM (#37651981)
That makes sense. What kind of sensor does it use to track the stars though? Stars are very dim.
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Re:SR-71 Blackbird Astro-Nav System (a.k.a. R2-D2) worked by... by geon on Monday September 25, 2023 @07:27PM (#37652181)
Stars don’t move a lot, so exposure time can be high.
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Re:SR-71 Blackbird Astro-Nav System (a.k.a. R2-D2) worked by... by numpad0 on Monday September 25, 2023 @07:52PM (#37652416)
Simplest implementation of star trackers I've seen is the Canopus sensor[1] used in old spin stabilized satellites: the "tracker" is just a light intensity sensor and a computer on a spinning spacecraft. I don't know if that has to do with this implement or not, but a star tracker in general could be that simple.

1: http://petermasek.50megs.com/starplot.jpg

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