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Agency United States Naval Observatory Acronym USNO Hierarchy Department of Defense. Department of the Navy. Docs News Releases URL http://www.usno.navy.mil/ Notes The U.S. Naval Observatory is one of the oldest scientific agencies in the country. Established in 1830 as the Depot of Charts and Instruments, its primary mission was to care for the U.S. Navy's chronometers, charts and other navigational equipment. Today, the U.S. Naval Observatory is the preeminent authority in the areas of time keeping and celestial observing; determining and distributing the timing and astronomical data required for accurate navigation and fundamental astronomy. Subjects NAVIGATION SPACE SCIENCES