Classes

• Spring: ENAE 404, Space Flight Dynamics
• Fall: ENAE 441, Space Navigation and Guidance
• Any semester: ENAE398H/499, Honors/Elective Research

References

These references are useful for class. The main textbook for ENAE 404 is Curtis, and for ENAE 441 is Montenbruck and Gill. Most of these references are available in the EPSL.

• Roger R. Bate, Donald D. Mueller, Jerry E. White, Fundamentals of Astrodynamics, New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1971. Also known as "BMW"; a classic textbook in the field which is dated but still useful. Quite inexpensive.
• Richard H. Battin, An Introduction to the Mathematics and Methods of Astrodynamics, Washington: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., 1987. Comprehensive and advanced treatment of the mathematical methods used in both courses, often difficult to follow or extract the important concepts.
• Philip R. Bevington, D. Keith Robinson, Data Reduction and Error Analysis for the Physical Sciences, Third Edition, Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2003. This book is a compact and useful summary of the application of statistical techniques. ENAE 441.
• Vladimir A. Chobotov, ed., Orbital Mechanics, Reston VA: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., Third Edition, 2002.
• Howard D. Curtis, Orbital Mechanics for Engineering Students, Amsterdam: Elsevier Butterworth Heinemann, 2005. A good thorough introduction to the principles of space flight dynamics including attitude dynamics. ENAE 404.
• B. Hofmann-Wellenhof, H. Lichtenegger, J. Collins, Global positioning system : theory and practice, Springer, 2001. This is a comprehensive book on GPS that is referenced a lot. It is disorganized and hard to penetrate and thus not recommended as a first lesson in GPS. However, most details on the GPS are available here. ENAE 441.
• Oliver Montenbruck and Eberhard Gill, Satellite Orbits, Springer, 2000. This book covers numerical integration and orbit estimation well at a level that is well-suited for ENAE 441 students. ENAE 441.
• Jerry Jon Sellers, Understanding Space, revised second edition, McGraw-Hill, 2004. This is recommended for a general overview of the subject. ENAE 404.
• Byron D. Tapley, Bob E. Shutz, George H. Born, Statistical Orbit Determination, Elsevier, 2004. Very detailed techniques for precision orbit determination. Note list of errata. ENAE 441.
• Catherine L. Thornton and James S. Border, Radiometric Tracking Techniques for Deep Space Navigation, Wiley Interscience, 2003, or in PDF free on the web. Despite its apparent specialization, it has a good introduction to space navigation techniques. ENAE 441.
• David Vallado, Fundamentals of Astrodynamics and Applications, second edition (Microcosm Press, 2001). I have a list of corrections and clarifications that should help reading the book. This list is updated from time to time; if you know or suspect errors not included, please send them to me.
• William E. Wiesel, Spaceflight Dynamics Second Edition, Irwin/McGraw-Hill, 1997. Selected topics covered in a very readable way.

Online resources