GSJ: Celestial Navigation: From Ancient Wayfinding to Modern Guidance

About this event

Georgia Science Junction – Celestial Navigation: From Ancient Wayfinding to Modern Guidance

Thursday, November 12th, 7-8:30 pm

In-Person and Streaming

Location: Wild Heaven Beer, Toco Hills: 2935 N Druid Hills Rd, Atlanta, GA 30329

Featured Speaker: Dr. John A. Christian

How did sailors cross oceans long before GPS? And how do navigators continue to use the stars for guidance in the modern era? Join Dr. John A. Christian for an engaging exploration of celestial navigation, tracing its evolution from ancient wayfinding techniques to today’s advanced navigation technologies. Discover how observations of the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars have guided travelers across the globe and continue to provide resilient navigation solutions in the modern world.

Speaker Name : Dr. John A. Christian, Associate Professor & Associate Chair for Graduate Programs; Director, Space Exploration Analysis Laboratory (SEAL); Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

Speaker Bio :

Dr. John Christian is a spacecraft navigator, author, and professor. He is director of the Space Exploration Analysis Laboratory (SEAL) and an internationally-known expert in image-based spacecraft navigation and astrodynamics. Dr. Christian is a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), where he is also the AE School’s Associate Chair for Graduate Programs. Prior to joining the faculty at Georgia Tech, he held previous faculty appointments at West Virginia University (Assistant Professor, 2013-2017) and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Assistant Professor, 2017-2020; Associate Professor, 2020-2021). Prior to his positions in academia, Dr. Christian was an aerospace engineer at the NASA Johnson Space Center (2010-2012) in the GNC Autonomous Flight Systems Branch.

Dr. Christian develops algorithms for extracting information from space sensor data. He is most well-known for his contributions in the use of visible/infrared space imagery, especially for celestial optical navigation (OpNav), planetary terrain relative navigation (TRN), and star/asterism identification. He has supported navigation activities for the Space Shuttle, International Space Station (ISS), Orion/Artemis, Lunar Flashlight, and other space exploration missions. His algorithms have been incorporated into numerous space exploration missions. He is author of the graduate-level textbook “Fundamentals of Spacecraft Optical Navigation.”

Dr. Christian is an AAS Fellow and an AIAA Associate Fellow. He is an associate editor of the AAS Journal of the Astronautical Sciences. He is is the recipient of many awards, including the 2025 Georgia Tech Outstanding Achievement in Research Innovation Award, the 2015 WVU Statler College New Researcher of the Year, an AFOSR Young Investigator Program award, and numerous NASA Group Achievement Awards.

From Science for Georgia, Inc.