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Short courses: space systems and space misions

Downloadable video clips (1) on history of space, spacecraft, and rocketry; (2) on space mission and spacecraft design;  and (3) global climate change (ice ages). 

It is recommended to download the files of video clips first and then play them from your computer.

Files of video clips and webcasts are hosted by the USC Distance Education Network (DEN). Thank you, DEN.

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Space:  From Firecrackers to Interstellar Flight (webcast)
Part 1. The First Thousand Years. (87 min)
Part 2.  Space in 21st Century. (84 min)

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Book preview  

(1)  Video clip (downloadable)  –   History of Rocketry and Space

The Road to Space. The First Thousand Years. (1 hr 10 min; 390MB)  

Fifty years ago, the Soviet Union and the United States launched into space the first artificial satellites of the Earth. The lecture (recorded in January 2007) presents the fascinating story of the events that paved the way to space. It introduces the history of early rocketry and the subsequent developments which led into the space age. The lecture can also be watched as webcast .
It is recommended to download first the slides of the presentation (pdf file).
Also available on Yahoo (Part 1/2; Part 2/2) and YouTube (Part 1/8; Part 2/8; Part 3/8; Part 4/8; Part 5/8; Part 6/8; Part 7/8; Part 8/8).
In addition, IAFASTRO posted the entire lecture on YouTube as one video clip.

also non-rocket history
History of the United States in Two Minutes (2 min 20 sec)

Also available on YouTube and Yahoo.

Sputnik 1         Explorer 1       Vanguard 1

Recommended books on history of astronautics, rocketry, spaceflight, and space technology

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Book preview

(2)  Video clips (downloadable)  –  Space Mission and Spacecraft Design

The following video clips illustrate effects of interest to space mission design and to spacecraft design 

Regression of Nodes ( 4 min 20 sec; 59MB)

This video clip demonstrates regression of nodes caused by Earth oblateness.
Also available on YouTube and Yahoo.

Prograde, Retrograde, and Sun-Synchronous Orbits ( 5 min 30 sec; 78MB)

This video clip demonstrates prograde, retrograde, and sun-synchronous orbits.
Also available on YouTube and Yahoo.

Recommended Textbooks and Monographs on Astronautics and Space Technology

Rotation of Apsides (5 min 40 sec; 69MB)

This video clip demonstrates rotation of apsides caused by Earth oblateness.
Also available on YouTube and Yahoo.

Molniya Orbit ( 5 min 10 sec; 54MB)

This video clip demonstrates space mission geometry for communications provided by satellites in 12-hour Molniya orbits.
Also available on YouTube and Yahoo.

Molniya Communications Relay (4 min 15 sec; 36MB)

This video clip demonstrates communications link between a satellite in sun-synchronous orbit and a ground station through a relay 12-hour Molniya satellite.
Also available on YouTube and Yahoo.

Orbit Circularization by Atmospheric Drag ( 3 min 50 sec; 38MB)

This video clip demonstrates orbit circularization by atmospheric drag.
Also available on YouTube and Yahoo.

Global Positioning System GPS Constellation ( 5 min 15 sec)

This video clip demonstrates satellite constellation for Global Positioning System (GPS).
Available on YouTube and Yahoo.

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

This video clip demonstrates satellite constellation for Global Positioning System (GPS).
Available on YouTube and Yahoo.

More instructional video clips are coming

More instructional video clips are coming

 

Recommended Textbooks and Monographs on Astronautics and Space Technology

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(3)  Video clip  –  Ice Ages, Solar System Dynamics and Global Climate Change

Ice Ages, Solar System Dynamics and Global Climate Change ( 3 min 30 sec; 16.5 MB)
this video on YouTube;    this video on Yahoo;  (this video in high-resolution will be available for download in the future)

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Interstellar Boundary Explorer IBEX

Galactic frontier of the Solar system

ASTE520  –  graduate course on space mission and spacecraft design
(largest spacecraft design graduate class in the United States)

Space engineering (astronautical engineering) education

AstronauticsNow.com

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Publications

Blazing the Trail. The Early History of Spacecraft and Rocketry, AIAA, Reston, Va., 2004
The winner of the Luigi Napolitano Award (2006) from the International Academy of Astronautics
Book preview

From Astronautics to Cosmonautics, BookSurge, No. Charleston, SC, 2007.
Book preview

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