Speculative Fact #264: Pulsar Navigational Beacons

When the first pulsar was detected in 1967, it was given the designation LGM for “little green men” (since it was speculated early on that they were signals of extraterrestrial origin). Pulsars send an intense beam of X-rays with such regular timing that they’ve been compared to cosmic timepieces.
            Many people have suggested that they be used as interstellar navigational beacons. Since a number of pulsars have been discovered, a spacecraft receiving a burst can then determine its relative location in space. Researchers at Leicester University are working on a system that will use a catalog of pulsars to guide a spacecraft like the GPS in a car.
    Your story can have a bold crew zipping around the galaxy with a gleaming starship on a high stakes mission. Maybe the ship's navigational system gets damaged in battle and they need to use the “old fashioned ” pulsar method to get back home?