Courses

    Presents the fundamentals of orbital mechanics, 3D rigid body dynamics, and satellite attitude dynamics and controls. Offered spring only. Prerequisites: Requires prerequisite courses of ASEN 2003, ASEN 2004 and APPM 2360 (all minimum grade C). Restricted to Aerospace Engineering (ASEN) majors only.
    Includes central force fields, satellite orbits, rocket dynamics, orbital transfer, interplanetary mission analysis, and perturbation due to atmospheric drag and Earth oblateness. Prerequisites: Requires prerequisite course of ASEN 3200 (minimum grade C). Restricted to Aerospace Engineering (ASEN) majors only.
    Includes rigid body kinematics and spacecraft attitude descriptions, torque-free attitude dynamics, static attitude determination, motion and stability due to gravity gradient torque and spinning craft, passive and active methods of attitude control, nonlinear regulator and attitude tracking feedback controlaws. Recommended prereq., ASEN 3200 or equivalent or instructor consent required. Prerequisites: Restricted to College of Engineering (ENGR) graduate students or Aerospace Engineering Concurrent Degree (C-ASEN) majors only.
    Includes celestial mechanics, space navigation, and orbit determination; trajectory design and mission analysis trajectory requirements; and orbital transfer and rendezvous. Recommended prereq., ASEN 3200 or equivalent or instructor consent required. Prerequisites: Restricted to College of Engineering (ENGR) graduate students or Aerospace Engineering Concurrent Degree (C-ASEN) majors only.
    Develops the theory of batch and sequential (Kalman) filtering, including a review of necessary concepts of probability and statistics. Course work includes a term project that allows students to apply classroom theory to an actual satellite orbit determination problem. Prerequisites: Restricted to College of Engineering (ENGR) graduate students or Aerospace Engineering Concurrent Degree (C-ASEN) majors only.
    Exploration of principles and methods related to the design and construction of trajectories for interplanetary mission design. Some topics covered include: two-and three-body motion, gravity assists, maneuver computation, navigation, numerical integration, and construction of orbits. The main focus is on simple ballistic mission designs, such as Galileo or Cassini, however, libration point trajectories will also be covered. Recommended prereq., ASEN 5050 or equivalent or instructor consent required. Prerequisites: Restricted to College of Engineering (ENGR) graduate students or Aerospace Engineering Concurrent Degree (C-ASEN) majors only.
    Studies the dynamic modeling and control of spacecraft containing multiple momentum exchange devices, and/or flexible spacecraft components. Will develop nonlinear feedback control algorithms, explore singularity avoidance strategies. The second half of the course derives analytical methods (D'Alembert's equations, Lagrange's equations, Boltzmann Hamel equations) to model a hybrid rigid/flexible spacecraft system. Repeatable for credit up to 6 total credit hours. Prerequisites: Restricted to College of Engineering (ENGR) graduate students or Aerospace Engineering Concurrent Degree (C-ASEN) majors only.
    Introduces the theory and practice of trajectory optimization. The general theory behind optimization and optimal control will be introduced with an emphasis on the properties of optimal trajectories. The main application will be to space trajectories, but other applications will also be considered. Recommended prereqs., ASEN 5050 and ASEN 5014 or equivalent or instructor consent required. Prerequisites: Restricted to College of Engineering (ENGR) graduate students or Aerospace Engineering Concurrent Degree (C-ASEN) majors only.
    Covers Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formalisms for astrodynamics problems, the computation and characterization of space trajectories in highly dynamic environments, computation of periodic orbits, stability analysis of orbital motion, and development of analytical theories for dynamics. Recommended prereq., ASEN 5050 or equivalent or instructor consent required. Prerequisites: Restricted to College of Engineering (ENGR) graduate students or Aerospace Engineering Concurrent Degree (C-ASEN) majors only.
    Focuses on the measurement of the Earth's gravitational field, rotational characteristics, and shape using Earth and space-based tracking of artificial satellites. Particular emphasis on satellite altimetry and satellite gravity measurements. Recommended prereq., ASEN 3200 or equivalent or instructor consent required. Credit not granted for this course and ASEN 5060. Prerequisites: Restricted to College of Engineering (ENGR) graduate students or Aerospace Engineering Concurrent Degree (C-ASEN) majors only.
    Continuation of ASEN 5070. Emphasizes orthogonal transformation techniques such as Givens and Householder, square root filtering and smoothing, and considers covariance analysis. Also nonlinear filters and dynamic model compensation techniques. Requires term project that involves the application of many of the techniques required for precise orbit determination. Recommended prereq., ASEN 5070 or equivalent or instructor consent required. Prerequisites: Restricted to College of Engineering (ENGR) graduate students or Aerospace Engineering Concurrent Degree (C-ASEN) majors only.