Spacecraft Dynamics Capstone Mars Mission

The goal of this capstone spacecraft dynamics project is to employ the skills developed in the rigid body Kinematics, Kinetics and Control courses. An exciting two-spacecraft mission to Mars is considered where a primary mother craft is in communication with a daughter vehicle in another orbit. The challenges include determining the kinematics of the orbit frame and several desired reference frames, numerically simulating the attitude dynamics of the spacecraft in orbit, and implementing a fee

• Apply three-dimensional kinematics to create a mission-related orbit simulation and evaluate orbit frame orientation
• Utilize knowledge of rigid body kinematics to determine attitude reference frames for different attitude pointing modes
• Demonstrate the ability to numerically simulate spacecraft attitude dynamics and evaluate control performance

• Advanced understanding of motion and dynamics
• Basic knowledge of mathematical control systems
• Experience in numerical simulations