astronauticsnow.com

160+ problems with detailed solutions

Fundamentals of Space Missions

Magnitudes of stars and satellites. The solar system. Coordinate systems and time. Plane and solid angles. Space environment and spacecraft interactions. Satellite atmospheric drag. Solar radiation pressure. Gravitational field. The Earth. Basics of orbital mechanics. Orbital elements, transfers, and maneuvers. Orbit evolution and common orbits. Space mission geometry.

Fundamentals of Space Missions – 3-page info (pdf) – list of problems

Regression of Nodes
(4 min 20 sec)

Prograde, Retrograde, and Sun-Synchronous Orbits
(5 min 30 sec)

Rotation of Apsides
(5 min 40 sec)

Molniya Orbit
(5 min 10 sec)

Molniya Communications Relay
(4 min 15 sec)
(communication link between a satellite in sun-synchronous orbit and a ground station through a relay 12-hour Molniya satellite)

Orbit Circularization by Atmospheric Drag
(3 min 50 sec)

Global Positioning System GPS Constellation
(5 min 15 sec)

Effects of Solar Radiation Pressure on Satellite Orbits
(6 min 28 sec)

Geostationary orbit GEO
(8 min 54 sec)

International Space Station: Hole and Leak, August 2018
(9 min 08 sec)
Hole and Leak at International Space Station in August 2018

AIAA Short Course "Fundamentals of Space Systems"

first lecture on global space enterprise (start at 24:00)

Recommended science and engineering books on astronautics, rocketry, and space technology

Recommended missile defense books

Recommended books on history of astronautics, rocketry, and space

APL Colloquium - AIAA Dsitinguished Speaker Lecture, 2022

Intercept 1961: From Air Defense SA-1 to the Birth of Soviet Missile Defense (1 h 01 min)

CU@USC TV interview, 2011

USC astronautics; interstellar boundary; Sputnik; Baikonur; spy at USC - espionage (26 min)

Satellite Launch by North Korea in 2012
(18 min)

North Korea Military Parade
October 2020
(18 minutes)

New Russian strategic weapon systems
made public by President Putin on March 1, 2018
(6 minutes)

Ice Ages, Solar System Dynamics and Global Climate Change
(3 min 30 sec)
Effects of Solar system dynamics on global climate and ice ages

Energetic Neutral Atom Imaging: The Next Step
invited talk at the Fall Meeting, American Geophysical Union (AGU), December 2012
(15 minutes)

Interstellar Hydrogen Atom Flux at 1 AU
(1 min 00 sec  – silent)

Interstellar Helium Atom Flux at 1 AU
(8 min 09 sec  – silent)

Effect of Giant Planets on Interstellar Helium Flux
talk at IBEX SWT, August 2021
(17 min 34 sec)

"Master of Science Degree in Astronautics"
IV Conferencia Espacial del Paraguay, October 2020
(17 min)

USC Astronautics Gradual Commencement
2016  2017  2018  2019  2020  2021

The Road to Space. The First Thousand Years.
Fascinating story of the events that paved the way to space. The lecture (2007) introduces the history of early rocketry and the subsequent developments which led into the space age. Slides of the presentation (pdf file).
The International Astronatical Federation IAFASTRO also posted the lecture on YouTube.

Space: From Firecrackers to Interstellar Flight
Part 1. The First Thousand Years. (75 min)
Part 2. Space in 21st Century. (77 min)
The two-part lecture (17 and 18 August 2017 at USC) focuses on (Part 1) science and technology developments that led to the space age and (Part 2) the critically important role space plays in the 21st century.

Road to Space. The First Thousand Years

National Space Society (NSS). Forum on November 18, 2020.
(83 min.)  Slides of the presentation (pdf)

Ary Sternfeld. A Forgotten Space Pioneer.
(25 min)

Yuri A. Gagarin
Socks for the First Cosmonaut of Planet Earth
(article, pdf)

History of the United States in Two Minutes  (2 min 20 sec)

More than three quarters of a million views and some hate mail from neo-Marxists

Make the World a Better Place