AE8001 Space Mechanics Syllabus:

AE8001 Space Mechanics Syllabus – Anna University Regulation 2017

UNIT I Space Environment

Peculiarities of space environment and its description– effect of space environment on materials of spacecraft structure and astronauts- manned space missions – effect on satellite life time

UNIT II Basic Concepts And The General N- Body Problem

The solar system – reference frames and coordinate systems – terminology related to the celestial sphere and its associated concepts – Kepler’s laws of planetary motion and proof of the laws – Newton’s universal law of gravitation – the many body problem – Lagrange-Jacobi identity – the circular restricted three body problem – libration points – the general N-body problem – two body problem – relations between position and time.

UNIT III Satellite Injection And Satellite Perturbations

General aspects of satellite injection – satellite orbit transfer – various cases – orbit deviations due to injection errors – special and general perturbations – Cowell’s method and Encke’s method – method of variations of orbital elements – general perturbations approach.

UNIT IV Interplanetary Trajectories

Two-dimensional interplanetary trajectories – fast interplanetary trajectories – three dimensional interplanetary trajectories – launch of interplanetary spacecraft – trajectory estimation about the target planet – concept of sphere of influence – Lambert’s theorem

UNIT V Ballistic Missile Trajectories

Introduction to ballistic missile trajectories – boost phase – the ballistic phase – trajectory geometry – optimal flights – time of flight – re-entry phase – the position of impact point – influence
coefficients.