Chapter 2 provides an overview of the information that today’s spacecraft have returned from the near and far corners of the solar system. The American and Russian space programs of the last decades of the twentieth century began to explore the planets and their moons. Joined by European, Japanese, Chinese, and Indian contributions in the twenty-first century, this effort has accelerated. The chapter describes the most important of the many unmanned missions that have explored the solar system and provides some of the spectacular images and wealth of information about the planets, their moons, asteroids, and comets that they have captured. Some elements of calculus are introduced toward the end to explain basic aspects of the rocket engines that propel these probes. The study of the flight of the Juno spacecraft to Jupiter provides an initial look at the analysis that the last chapter of the text undertakes in detail.
Exploring the Solar System
Basic Calculus of Planetary Orbits and Interplanetary Flight ; Chapter : 2 ; 61-122
2020-03-15
62 pages
Article/Chapter (Book)
Electronic Resource
English
Solar system exploring perspectives
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