Nautical Mile

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Nautical Mile

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A unit of distance used principally in navigation. For practical navigation it is usually considered the length of 1 minute of any great circle of the earth, the meridian being the great circle most commonly used. Also called sea mile. </dd>
Because of various lengths of the nautical mile in use throughout the world, due to differences in definition and the assumed size and shape of the earth, the International Hydrographic Bureau in 1929 proposed a standard length of 1852 meters, which is known as the international nautical mile. This has been adopted by nearly all maritime nations. The U.S. Departments of Defense and Commerce adopted this value on July 1, 1954. With the yard-meter relationship then in use, the international nautical mile was equivalent to 6076.10333 feet. Using the yard-meter conversion factor effective July 1, 1959, the international nautical mile is equivalent to 6076.11549 international feet. </dd>

References

This article is based on NASA's Dictionary of Technical Terms for Aerospace Use