Astrogator

An astrogator performs the task of astrogation (a portmanteau of astronomical navigation), is the fictional navigation of spacecraft in interplanetary or interstellar travel. The term was first used by science fiction writers in the first half of the 20th century. It was coined during the golden age of science fiction. According to Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction it was coined by 1935 and used in Stanley G. Weinbaum in Planet of Doubt (Astounding Stories Oct 108/1), referenced by Hugo Gernsback contemporaneously, and notably used in Robert Heinlein 1953 novel, Starman Jones.
The term may refer to a crew member, job role or a piece of technology, as in Star Trek: The Original Series, where the astrogator was located on the console between Sulu and Chekov, and in Lost In Space, where the control deck of Jupiter II is dominated by a central astrogation table.
It has crossed into mainstream usage, for example the The Astrogator's Guild website run by NASA aerodynamicists and a navigation module for Satellite Tool Kit (STK).<ref name="Spatial Temporal Information S..." />
 
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