First Star on the Right...

John Masefield's 1902 poem "Sea Fever" has the line, "And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by," quoted even by William Shatner while playing a 23rd century starship captain.

By his time, of course, computers would be essential for navigation, especially for a craft traveling among the stars. But even today, satellite and GPS systems have replaced the old wooden-hulled navy standby of navigating according to the position of the stars overhead. In the late '90s, US Navy sailors no longer had to learn celestial navigation as computers had mastered the art with far greater accuracy.

But now, the possibility of hacked GPS systems or of a ship's computer systems getting some kind of bad bug or virus have alerted the Navy to the need for a backup system -- the human eye and the stars above. The Naval Academy at Annapolis has reinstated a short class in the basics of using a sextant and map of the night sky to determine positions and courses.

Hang in there, cursive. There may be hope for you yet.