Astronautics: The Physics of Space Flight

Description

This introductory text covers all the key concepts, relationships, and ideas behind spaceflight and is the perfect companion for students pursuing courses on or related to astronautics. As a crew member of the STS-55 Space Shuttle mission and a full professor of astronautics at the Technical University of Munich, Ulrich Walter is an acknowledged expert in the field. This book is based on his extensive teaching and work with students, and the text is backed up by numerous examples drawn from his own experience. With its end-of-chapter examples and problems, this work is suitable for graduate level or even undergraduate courses in spaceflight, as well as for professionals working in the space industry. This third edition includes substantial revisions of several sections to extend their coverage. These include both theoretical extensions such as the study of relative motion in near-circular orbits, and more practical matters such as additional details about jet-engine and general rocket performance. New sections address regularized equations of orbital motion and their algebraic solutions and also state vector propagation; two new chapters are devoted to orbit geometry and orbit determination and to thermal radiation physics and modelling. Front Matter ....Pages i-xxxvi Rocket Fundamentals (Ulrich Walter)....Pages 1-35 Rocket Flight (Ulrich Walter)....Pages 37-46 Rocket Staging (Ulrich Walter)....Pages 47-65 Thermal Propulsion (Ulrich Walter)....Pages 67-104 Electric Propulsion (Ulrich Walter)....Pages 105-119 Atmospheric and Ascent Flight (Ulrich Walter)....Pages 121-163 Orbits (Ulrich Walter)....Pages 165-277 Orbital Maneuvering (Ulrich Walter)....Pages 279-383 Interplanetary Flight (Ulrich Walter)....Pages 385-426 Planetary Entry (Ulrich Walter)....Pages 427-492 Three-Body Problem (Ulrich Walter)....Pages 493-553 Orbit Perturbations (Ulrich Walter)....Pages 555-660 Reference Frames (Ulrich Walter)....Pages 661-675 Orbit Geometry and Determination (Ulrich Walter)....Pages 677-697 Spacecraft Attitude Dynamics (Ulrich Walter)....Pages 699-734 Thermal Radiation Physics and Modeling (Ulrich Walter)....Pages 735-795 Back Matter ....Pages 797-828