Orbital Mechanics and Space Flight
Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Instructor: Douglas May
Email: dougmay@gmail.com
Class website: www.orbitmechanics.com (Click on the Wildcat)
Textbook (required): Orbital Mechanics for Engineering Students, H. D. Curtis, Elsevier, 2005.
Textbook (optional): Fundamentals of Astrodynamics, R. R. Bate, D. D. Mueller, and J. E. White, Dover, 1971.
Handouts: Notes/papers on topics of interest will be provided as handouts or on the class web site. Models/algorithms developed in Excel will be given as handouts.
Prerequisites: MATH 223 and PHYS 141
Topics to be covered: background and notation, two-body problem, central force field motion, Kepler’s laws, Newton’s laws of motion and gravity, conic sections, orbit determination, time-displacement equations, geocentric and topocentric coordinate systems, oblate Earth effects, the rocket equation, orbital transfers and maneuvers, Hohmann transfer, and interplanetary trajectories. Time-displacement equations will be derived using Kepler’s method and an alternate approach. Theory will be applied in realistic and pertinent problems.
Homework and Project: Weekly homework will be assigned; some problems will be comprehensive. One instructor approved project will be required.
Grading Scheme: Homework... 25 %
Project........ 15 %
Mid-Term..... 25 %
Final........... 35 %
The primary textbook is appropriate for undergraduate engineering students. Orbital position versus time is a major topic in the course because it is involved in most real orbital transfer or maneuver problems. Real upper stage example problems with rocket performance calculations will be solved.
|
