Ascent to Orbit


Book Description

A Wiley-Interscience publication.




Ask the Astronaut


Book Description

Ever wondered what space is really like? Thanks to his 25 years of training for, flying in, consulting on, and writing and speaking about space, astronaut and spacewalker Tom Jones can answer that question and many others. What do you feel on liftoff? What is weightlessness? Where do you sleep in space? Can you see the Great Wall of China? Jones answers every question you have ever had about space in Ask the Astronaut. His entertaining blend of wit, personal experience, and technical expertise shines in each answer, and together all the answers illuminate the true space experience from start to finish. His engaging and informative responses remind readers of historic space achievements, acquaint them with exciting new ambitions, make them feel like they have experienced space firsthand, and even inspire an urge to explore space themselves. Jones covers everything from the training process for new astronaut candidates and the physical sensations and challenges of rocketing into orbit to what it's like to live, work, and walk in space. Jones also explores the future of spaceflight, both professional and commercial, in the years to come. Ask the Astronaut is a delight for all readers, especially "armchair astronauts" and younger, 21st century space explorers.




Use of Extraterrestrial Resources for Human Space Missions to Moon or Mars


Book Description

This book carries out approximate estimates of the costs of implementing ISRU on the Moon and Mars. It is found that no ISRU process on the Moon has much merit. ISRU on Mars can save a great deal of mass, but there is a significant cost in prospecting for resources and validating ISRU concepts. Mars ISRU might have merit, but not enough data are available to be certain. In addition, this book provides a detailed review of various ISRU technologies. This includes three approaches for Mars ISRU based on processing only the atmosphere: solid oxide electrolysis, reverse water gas shift reaction (RWGS), and absorbing water vapor directly from the atmosphere. It is not clear that any of these technologies are viable although the RWGS seems to have the best chance. An approach for combining hydrogen with the atmospheric resource is chemically very viable, but hydrogen is needed on Mars. This can be approached by bringing hydrogen from Earth or obtaining water from near-surface water deposits in the soil. Bringing hydrogen from Earth is problematic, so mining the regolith to obtain water seems to be the only way to go. This will require a sizable campaign to locate and validate useable water resources. Technologies for lunar ISRU are also reviewed, even though none of them provide significant benefits to near-term lunar missions. These include oxygen from lunar regolith, solar wind volatiles from regolith, and extraction of polar ice from permanently shaded craters.




Orbital Mechanics for Engineering Students


Book Description

Orbital Mechanics for Engineering Students, Second Edition, provides an introduction to the basic concepts of space mechanics. These include vector kinematics in three dimensions; Newton's laws of motion and gravitation; relative motion; the vector-based solution of the classical two-body problem; derivation of Kepler's equations; orbits in three dimensions; preliminary orbit determination; and orbital maneuvers. The book also covers relative motion and the two-impulse rendezvous problem; interplanetary mission design using patched conics; rigid-body dynamics used to characterize the attitude of a space vehicle; satellite attitude dynamics; and the characteristics and design of multi-stage launch vehicles. Each chapter begins with an outline of key concepts and concludes with problems that are based on the material covered. This text is written for undergraduates who are studying orbital mechanics for the first time and have completed courses in physics, dynamics, and mathematics, including differential equations and applied linear algebra. Graduate students, researchers, and experienced practitioners will also find useful review materials in the book. - NEW: Reorganized and improved discusions of coordinate systems, new discussion on perturbations and quarternions - NEW: Increased coverage of attitude dynamics, including new Matlab algorithms and examples in chapter 10 - New examples and homework problems







Satellite Systems


Book Description

This reader-friendly resource covers the broad spectrum of satellite principles and their associated technologies. While other books limit their coverage to specialized services or to satellite payloads such as communication satellites, Satellite Systems focuses upon the methodology of launching satellites, keeping them there, the environments under which they operate, and other facets particular to their operation. Pattan's detailed, elaborate approach does not assume that the reader is versed in esoteric mathematics. Satellite Systems is specific enough to be a valuable working-tool to scientists and engineers in related fields, yet general enough to be accessible to students and interested lay people. Pattan throughly explores the concepts and technologies of satellite systems in simple, direct terms. Satellite Systems includes precise coverage of: *various orbits and the services they provide *international launch of vehicles and launch sites *phased array antennas for satellite network applications *mobile satellite services from land vehicles, aircraft, and ships *low orbit satellites for telecommunication and position determination applications *international frequency allocations for satellite control, payload management, and status *geometric relationships between satellite and Earth stations used in interference analysis, orbit determination, and location *the hostile environments in which satellites operate and cope *and much more Satellite Systems is a self-contained, extensive introduction that offers professionals and advanced undergraduate and graduate students of satellite systems the tools they need for in-depth understanding of the complexities of the subject. It is ideal as both a reference and a training text for engineers, technicians, communication lawyers, weather professionals, telecommunications experts, students, and anyone interested insatellites and satellite technology.




Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports


Book Description

Lists citations with abstracts for aerospace related reports obtained from world wide sources and announces documents that have recently been entered into the NASA Scientific and Technical Information Database.




Automatic Control in Space


Book Description

Automatic Control in Space is a compendium of papers presented on the Eighth IFAC Symposium that took place in Oxford, England in July 1979. The book is comprised of an assortment of presentations prepared by experts in the fields of engineering, computer science, robotics, optics, aeronautics, and other allied disciplines discussing various aspects and types of automatic control systems and applications used in space technology. The text covers a broad range of topics on space technology, such as stabilization systems for space telescopes and balloon platforms; spacecraft attitude estimation and space navigation; and various control algorithms for different motion stabilization problems. Robotic systems; automatic control for large space transportations; and a path selection system for an autonomous Martian roving vehicle are presented as well. The text will be of high interest for engineers, computer scientists, physicists, inventors, astronomers, and various experts in space technology.




Proceedings of the 44th Annual American Astronautical Society Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference, 2022


Book Description

Zusammenfassung: This conference attracts GN&C specialists from across the globe. The 2022 Conference was the 44th Annual GN&C conference with more than 230 attendees from six different countries with 44 companies and 28 universities represented. The conference presented more than 100 presentations and 16 posters across 18 topics. This year, the planning committee wanted to continue a focus on networking and collaboration hoping to inspire innovation through the intersection of diverse ideas. These proceedings present the relevant topics of the day while keeping our more popular and well-attended sessions as cornerstones from year to year. Several new topics including "Autonomous Control of Multiple Vehicles" and "Results and Experiences from OSIRIS-REx" were directly influenced by advancements in our industry. In the end, the 44th Annual GN&C conference became a timely reflection of the current state of the GN&C ins the space industry. The annual American Astronautical Society Rocky Mountain Guidance, Navigation and Control (GN&C) Conference began 1977 as an informal exchange of ideas and reports of achievements among guidance and control specialists local to the Colorado area. Bud Gates, Don Parsons, and Bob Culp organized the first conference, and began the annual series of meetings the following winter. In March 1978, the First Annual Rocky Mountain Guidance and Control Conference met at Keystone, Colorado. It met there for eighteen years, moving to Breckenridge in 1996 where it has been for over 25 years




NASA Technical Paper


Book Description