English: During the early 1950s, Charles Draper’s team at MIT developed a prototype pure inertial reference system to guide submarines, missiles, and aircraft, known as Space Inertial Reference Earth (SPIRE). It used gyroscopes and accelerometers connected to a computer to determine position without emitting signals that could reveal position or relying on external signals that might be vulnerable to enemy interference.

On February 8, 1953, SPIRE guided a B-29 from New Bedford, Massachusetts to Los Angeles entirely under automatic control. As the first truly successful demonstration of inertial navigation, it ushered in the rapid adoption of inertial navigation systems by the US. Navy and Air Force. Picture taken at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, USA.

Gift of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.