Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Pulsar-based navigation
open-in-new
<p>X-ray pulsar-based navigation and timing (XNAV) or simply pulsar navigation is a navigation technique whereby the periodic <a href="/facts/X-ray/wseP79cN">X-ray</a> signals emitted from <a href="/facts/X-ray_pulsar/ILYcvoLH">pulsars</a> are used to determine the location of a vehicle, such as a spacecraft in deep space. A vehicle using XNAV would compare received X-ray signals with a database of known pulsar frequencies and locations. Similar to <a href="/facts/GPS/DKVLnzF3">GPS</a>, this comparison would allow the vehicle to calculate its position accurately (±5 km). The advantage of using X-ray signals over <a href="/facts/Radio_waves/XmB6WPpF">radio waves</a> is that <a href="/facts/X-ray_telescopes/FDpF14TH">X-ray telescopes</a> can be made smaller and lighter. Experimental demonstrations have been reported in 2018. </p>