Kinetics: Spacecraft Motion

As they tumble through space, objects like spacecraft move in dynamical ways. Understanding and predicting the equations that represent that motion is critical to the safety and efficacy of spacecraft mission development. Kinetics: Modeling the Motions of Spacecraft trains your skills in topics like rigid body angular momentum and kinetic energy expression shown in a coordinate frame agnostic manner, single and dual rigid body systems tumbling without the forces of external torque, how different

• Derive rotational equations of motion and determine torque-free motion equilibria and stability
• Develop equations for a rigid body with multiple spinning parts and apply gravity gradient torque
• Apply static stability conditions for dual-spinner configurations and predict changes with momentum devices
• Derive motion equations for systems with various momentum exchange devices

• Basic mechanical physics
• Advanced differential equations
• Fundamentals of rigid body systems