USA As Represented by Secretary of the Navy

Eldon C Hall

Joseph D Sabo

Wallace E Vander Velde

David G Hoag

Harold H Seward

Vincent R De Marco

J H Laning

Ralph R Ragan

Daniel J Lickly

Edward M Copps, Jr

Millard B Prisant

Samuel A Forter

An inertial guidance system for a rocket powered ballistic missile which vides navigation and control while the missile is proceeding in its flight trajectory. Signals are generated within the confines of the missile and without outside information representative of angular and linear motion of the missile with respect to an inertial frame of reference, a digital computer compares these signals against a preset parameter stored in the computer to provide control signals along the pitch and yaw axes. An autopilot uses these control signals to provide mechanical control movements, and an exhaust nozzle deflection arrangement connected to the autopilot deflects the exhaust of the rocket for guidance along a predetermined flight trajectory.

Polaris guidance system

A digital computer for guiding the flight of a ballistic missile through instrumentation of a Q Matrix. The computer may be described as being the digital counterpart of a mechanical differential analyzer in that it is made up of a number of appropriately interconnected integrators which generate the solution of the particular equation or set of equations being solved. An initial value of velocity-to-be-gained is inserted into the computer and then by means of accelerometer outputs, multipliers, adders and integrators, samples of the missile's velocity are compared with the velocity-to-be-gained to generate output signals to control or guide the trajectory of the missile during its powered flight.

Guidance computer

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Wollaston, MA, United States of America

Eldon C Hall