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Astrodynamics – Orbital mechanics or astrodynamics is the application of ballistics and celestial mechanics to the practical problems concerning the motion of rockets and other spacecraft. Atmospheric entry – is the movement of an object from outer space into and through the gases of an atmosphere of a planet, dwarf planet or natural satellite.
Orbital mechanics or astrodynamics is the application of ballistics and celestial mechanics to the practical concerning the motion of rockets, satellites, and other spacecraft. The motion of these objects is usually calculated from Newton's laws of motion and the law of universal gravitation .
In astrodynamics, the characteristic energy is a measure of the excess specific energy over that required to just barely escape from a massive body. The units are length 2 time −2, i.e. velocity squared, or energy per mass.
In astrodynamics, the inclination can be computed from the orbital momentum vector (or any vector perpendicular to the orbital plane) as = | | where is the z-component of . Mutual inclination of two orbits may be calculated from their inclinations to another plane using cosine rule for angles .
Figure 1: Approximation of a finite thrust maneuver with an impulsive change in velocity. An impulsive maneuver is the mathematical model of a maneuver as an instantaneous change in the spacecraft's velocity (magnitude and/or direction) [3] as illustrated in figure 1. It is the limit case of a burn to generate a particular amount of delta-v, as ...
[1] For the most efficient example mentioned above, targeting an inclination at apoapsis also changes the argument of periapsis. However, targeting in this manner limits the mission designer to changing the plane only along the line of apsides. [citation needed] For Hohmann transfer orbits, the initial orbit and the final orbit are 180 degrees ...
Roger A. Broucke (March 25, 1932 – June 21, 2005) was an aerospace engineer known for his solutions to the three-body problem. After working on practical orbital mechanics at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory , he became a professor at the University of Texas at Austin .
Perifocal reference frames are most commonly used with elliptical orbits for the reason that the ^ coordinate must be aligned with the eccentricity vector. Circular orbits, having no eccentricity, give no means by which to orient the coordinate system about the focus.