> > > Subject: Satellite Book > Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2001 13:41:25 -0500 > From: Jonathan T Wojack <tlj18@juno.com> > To: SeeSat-L@blackadder.lmsal.com > > I received the book "Fundamentals of Astrodynamics" yesterday in the mail > from Amazon.com for $10 U.S. It seems to be a great book. Written in > 1971 (by B.-M.-W.), it was originally a textbook for U.S. Air Force, > etc., students entering the astrodynamics and spaceflight arena. I think > it will greatly enhance my comprehension of orbits. Includes planetary > orbits, too (meaning that you can learn the math necessary to take a > spacecraft from Earth orbit, take it to gravity-assisted maneuvers, and > arrive in orbit of Jove - like Galileo). Greatly recommend it! Cheap, > too! A sample question (it IS a textbook, after all) from just the first > chapter: if a satellite is in a 100mi x 600mi orbit, what is its period? > > A question: is there any place in the world where you can get a > degree/certificate/diploma in astrodynamics/"orbitology"? Not only to I > seek to gain a greater mathematical grasp of one of my most favorite > hobbies, but I also hope to advance toward the pursuit a landing a career > in spaceflight. > > Anyone else read this book? > I read Bates, Mueller and White (B-M-W) some years ago, because that was all there was at time. The problem I find with B-M-W is that it doesn't cover contemporary topics such as station keeping, general perturbation, and the use of modern estimation techniques in orbit determination. However, David Vallado has written a book that incorporates the fundamentals covered in B-M-W, while covering the contemporary topics I mentioned earlier. So, if you are open to a suggestion, you might want to take a look at "Fundamentals of Astrodynamics and Applications" by David Vallado. I absolutely love this book! It's much more of the current topics than B-M-W. In terms of coverage, the text contains: - a treatment on special and general perturbation methods - real world mission analysis: station keeping, designing and maintaining mission orbits, a discussion on GPS - orbit determination Vallado's text covers the fundamentals thoroughly, but what I love about this text is the coverage it gives to the use of Kalman Filters in orbit determination in addition to the least squares techniques covered in texts like B-M-W. Lastly, its bibliography is very complete. I find Vallado's book the kind of text that both the student and practitioner of astrodynamics will want to have in their tool suite. If you find yourself wanting more than what B-M-W covers, give Vallado's book a try. Hope this helps. Sam Dupree. P.S. - "Fundamentals of Astrodynamics and Applications" is available on Amazon.com. Check it out! -- ============================================================================ Samuel H. Dupree, Jr. sdupree@voicenet.com 600 West Harvey St., Apt A-703 Philadelphia, PA 19144, USA http://www.voicenet.com/~sdupree/ HOME: (215) 842-3663 WORK: (610) 531-7994 FAX: (610) 531-3145 Ad Astra per Aspera ============================================================================ ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www2.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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