Episode Details

GPS jamming isn’t a distant threat — it’s disrupting flights over the Baltic right now. This episode explores the ancient art of celestial navigation as a modern fallback. You’ll learn why Polaris isn’t the brightest star (it’s 48th), how to measure your latitude with just your fist, and why the Southern Cross requires more creativity. We also dive into smartphone apps that can identify stars and compute your orientation without GPS, plus the surprising resurgence of sextant training at the US Naval Academy. From John Harrison’s marine chronometer to modern star trackers on spacecraft, this is a practical guide to the oldest positioning system in the world.