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Welcome to EN.530.470 - Space Vehicle Dynamics and Control

Click here for class announcements

Instructors:

Brett N. Shapiro, Ph.D.

Office: JHU/APL 200-W543

Phone: 240-592-0369

Pradipto Ghosh , Ph.D.

Office: JHU/APL 200-W518

Phone: 240-592-0869

Instructor Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday 6-7 PM (after class), Latrobe 106

Send all questions to jhu530470@gmail.com (it will be forwarded to all of us) for fastest response!

TA: Murtaza Hathiyari

Office Hours: TBD, Location TBD.

Location: Homewood Campus, classroom Gilman 17

Time: Monday and Wednesday, 4:30 PM - 5:45 PM

Course Credit: 3.0

Course Homepage URL: https://sites.google.com/site/jhu530470/

Course Objective: To provide an introduction to the orbital and attitude dynamics for spacecraft.

Course Description: In this course we study applied spacecraft orbital and attitude dynamics and touch upon their impact on other subsystems. In the orbital dynamics part of the course, we start with basic two-body orbital motion, and discuss spacecraft maneuvering techniques for various goals such as orbital insertion, formation control and station keeping. Focus is on the two-body problem regime where conic solutions are valid. Orbit perturbations are also introduced. For attitude dynamics, different attitude representations such as direction cosines (rotation matrices), quaternions, and angles are introduced. Then we look at the forces and moments acting on space vehicles. Attitude stability and control considerations are introduced.

Prerequisites: Vectors and matrices; linear algebra and elements of ordinary differential equations--material covered in most undergraduate curricula in mechanical engineering and physics; undergraduate course in dynamics.

Assessment Method:

-Homework 40%, Approximately 1 homework per week. Lowest single homework assignment grade will be dropped. Homeworks go out Wednesdays and will be due the next week on Thursday at 11:59 pm on Gradescope. No late assignments will be accepted although a single missing assignment can be dropped as lowest grade.

-One in class Midterm 30%

-Final Exam 30%

Collaboration and Course Ethics:

Students in this course are expected to uphold the ethical standards of the Johns Hopkins University (https://studentaffairs.jhu.edu/policies-guidelines/undergrad-ethics/). The sections below state the accepted levels of collaboration and use of outside materials for this course.

-Homework: The purpose of homework is to provide an opportunity for the students to improve and demonstrate their understanding of the course materials through its applications to actual problems. Collaboration between students and the use of outside materials or advice on homework is thus acceptable when used towards these goals. However, each student is expected to submit their own solutions to homework sets that reflect their understanding of the material. Thus, verbatim copying of solutions from other students or sources is not considered acceptable. Students found to be copying homework assignments will be given a warning and asked to meet with the instructors after the first incident. Any subsequent incident of copying will result in a zero for the assignments and report of the incident to the University Ethics Board.

-Midterm and Final Exams: Any sharing of exam information between students, use of transmitting devices including but not limited to cell phones and PDAs, or use of unauthorized outside material during an exam will result in a grade of zero for that exam and a report of the incident to the University Ethics Board. Each exam will contain a written description of this policy and a list of any allowable materials for that exam that must be signed by the student before the exam is turned in.

Computer Requirements: Homework assignments will contain some problems that require computer programming, preferably in MATLAB.

Course Textbook: Required—B. Wie, "Space Vehicle Dynamics and Control: Second Edition," AIAA Education Series, Published by AIAA, © 2008, 966 pages, Hardback. ISBN: 1-56347-953-2

Other Textbooks: Use for optional reading and alternative explanations:

1. H. Curtis, "Orbital Mechanics for Engineering Students, Third Edition," Butterworth-Heinemann, © 2014, 768pages, Hardback. ISBN: 978-0-08-097747-8.

2. W. Wiesel, "Spaceflight Dynamics: Third Edition," CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, © 2010, 364 pages, Paperback. ISBN: 1452879591.

3. J. Prussing and B. Conway, "Orbital Mechanics," Oxford University Press, © 2012, 304 pages, Hardback. ISBN: 978-0199837700.

4. D. Vallado, "Fundamentals of Astrodynamics, Third Edition," Springer, © 2007, 980 pages, Paperback. ISBN: 978-0387718316.

Summary

Part I: Orbital Dynamics and Adjustments

A. Review of particle kinematics

1. Frames

2. The basic kinematic equation

B. Kinetics

1. Laws of Kepler

2. Newton’s universal gravitation for point masses

C. Equations of Motion

1. The 2-body problem

b. The orbital elements

2. Orbital perturbations (Time permitting)

a. J2, drag, solar radiation pressure

D. Orbit establishment and adjustments

1. Ascent to orbit (Time permitting)

2. The rocket equation

3. Single impulse orbit adjustments

4. Multi-impulse orbit adjustments

a. Hohmann transfers

5a. Introduction to interplanetary flight (Time permitting)

5b. Relative Motion (Time permitting)

Part II: Rigid-Body Dynamics and Control

A. Attitude representations and kinematics

1. Direction cosine matrix

2. Euler angles

3. Quaternions

4. Kinematic equations

B. Kinetics

1. Angular momentum of a rigid body

2. The inertia matrix and inertia dyadic

3. Principal axes

4. Euler’s rotational equations of motion

C. Equations of Motion

1. Torque-free motion of an axisymmetric rigid body

D. Introduction to control

1. Reaction wheels