Patent Document ID: 7912644
Application ID: 12410324
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for determining a terrestrial location of an apparatus that is located in a generally known geographical region, comprising the steps of: (a) deploying the apparatus within the geographical region; (b) capturing, by the apparatus, an earthbound image of the sky from a terrestrial location within the geographical region at an identified time; (c) communicating, to a location outside of the geographical region, data representative of the earthbound image of the sky captured by the apparatus; and (d) determining, at the location outside of the geographical region, the terrestrial location of the apparatus within the geographical region based on the communicated data by comparing the captured earthbound image of the sky to a master mapping of the sky relative to the surface of the Earth; (e) wherein the identified time at which the earthbound image of the sky is captured is a time that is predetermined prior to deployment of the apparatus within the geographical region.