Hi Lauren,

Are you asking if we personally use the Sun for navigation? I sometimes use it for orientation (Its late afternoon so if the Sun is on my left I must be facing more or less north...).

Our spacecraft also use it for orientation. Of course, the spacecraft I work with are observing the Sun, but in addition to that they have sensors which keep track of where the Sun is and make sure the spacecraft stays pointed towards it. Spacecraft also orient using the stars.

Back before GPS and such the Sun and stars were used for navigation, especially on ships. That is why the US Naval Observatory is a place you can go on the web to look up things like the times of sunrise and sunset.

Best,

Terry