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Space Table of Contents


9.2.2 Space: Rocketry and Orbital Motion


Projectile motion

This material is given in absolutely every textbook on introductory physics. Again just as one example, see HRW, chapter 4.

The syllabus document makes reference to 'Galileo's analysis of projectile motion'. You won't find this in many textbooks, but there is a nice historical discussion in the book Galileo's Daughter, by Dava Sobel, 1999, (Fourth Estate, London), chap XXX, pp. 347-9.

A web site entitled: Galileo's Analysis of Projectile Motion at http://www.crs4.it/Ars/arshtml/mathofmotion2.html also contains a description of these experiments.

A web site entitled: Galileo and Einstein at http://galileoandeinstein.physics.virginia.edu/ contains useful material including applets related to the topic, lecture material and translations of Galileo's writings.

Another is: Galileo's Work on Projectile Motion http://es.rice.edu/ES/humsoc/Galileo/Student_Work/Experiment95/, which contains the results of a student project from Rice University dealing with Galileo's experiments.

A translation of the relevant section from Galileo's Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences, can be found in: J. Newman, 1956, The World of Mathematics, Simon & Schuster, pp 755 - 765.

Teaching Dynamics with Excel97 http://www.phys.virginia.edu/classes/581/ - provides a detailed treatment of projectile motion using spreadsheets and includes downloadable templates.

Escape velocity

Again, the mathematical derivation of escape velocity is absolutely standard and does not need specific reference. Those specified in Content area 1 will suffice.

I am not sure of the background to the Syllabus item "Newton's analysis of escape velocity", since I cannot find an example of Newton using this term. The material contained in the following reference is probably what the authors of the Syllabus had in mind. It is from S. Sambursky, Physical Thought from the PreSocratics to the Quantum Physicists: An Anthology, (1974). The entire section is a translation from Newton's Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687) , included to give a flavour of the mode of discourse used by this great scientist. (L.E.C.)

The well known example of shooting a cannon ball from a high mountain is probably what most people think of in this context. An applet that illustrates this and includes a reproduction of the diagram as it appeared in the Principia can be seen at http://galileoandeinstein.physics.virginia.edu/more_stuff/Applets/newt/newtmtn.html.

Inertial forces during launch

For technical details about g forces and their effects on human beings, see History of Research in Space Biology and Biodynamics: Later Deceleration Studies on the High-Speed Track, http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/afspbio/part5-3.htm.

Another source is: The Environment of Manned Systems, http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/conghand/mannedev.htm.

The dynamics of rocketry

For technical details about rockets and launching and all that sort of thing the best place to go is the NASA web site itself: http://www.nasa.gov/. The information you want will be there somewhere. In many cases, however, you may want to go directly to their Subject Index page: http://www.nasa.gov/nasaorgs/subject_index.html or their search page: http://www.nasa.gov/search/index.html.

The National Air and Space Museum, associated with the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, USA, is also useful. http://www.nasm.edu/

There is also a site called 30th anniversary of Apollo 11 : 1969 - 1999, put up Goodard Space Flight Center, NASA, which contains useful material. http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo_11_30th.html

There are many sites on the web full of technical information. For example, I found a site called "Mark Wade's Encyclopedia Astronautica", which seems reputable: http://www.friends-partners.org/partners/mwade/spaceflt.htm

A site of resources for teachers, maintained by NASA is: http://www.lerc.nasa.gov/Other_Groups/K-12/TRC/Rockets/rocket_principles.html.

Circular orbital motion around the Earth

This material is covered in Marion, chapter 3, pp. 58-62, and in HRW chapter 14.

More general motion of satellites

For a simple explanation of the slingshot effect How does the gravitational slingshot work? that students will understand, see one of the question-and-answers from Physics and Astronomy at ScienceNet. http://www.sciencenet.org.uk/database/Physics/0012/p01433d.html

There are also some equally simple answers in the "ask an expert" column of Scientific American: http://www.sciam.com/askexpert/astronomy/astronomy10.html. They don't mention Kepler's third law either.

A definitive analysis of the slingshot effect, which teachers would be able to follow, but students would have great difficulty with, is given in a paper from the University of Durham: http://www.dur.ac.uk/~dma0rcj/slingshot.html .

Problems with re-entry

Many of the same sources as for "The dynamics of rocketry" above will serve here.

There is more detailed information at the site Satellite Re-entryhttp://www.satobs.org/re-entry.html

The site Visual Satellite Observer's Home Page http://www.satobs.org/satintro.html seems to be a good source of actual data to work with.

Specific information about angle of re-entry is not very easy to find. One easy-to-read article is from a history of one of the NASA projects, the chapter entitled A Moon for a Man. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4201/ch3-4.htm.

A historically interesting document which discusses re-entry angle is a report written by the Russian Scientific Research Institute in 1954, at the very start of their space program, entitled A Report on an Artificial Earth Satellite: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/sputnik/russ1.html.

Student investigations and experiments

A number of applets including Kepler's Laws and Projectile Motion can be found at Walter Fendt's Java Applets on Physics: http://home.a-city.de/walter.fendt/phe/phe.htm.

Projectile motion is conveniently studied with simulations. A useful looking one is: Objects in Motion, by Peter Cramer, Case Western Reserve University, USA, (published by Physics Academic Software). It has the virtue that it can also be used to explore circular motion and simple planetary orbits.

Another simulation which is relatively easy to use is: Orbits, by J. B. Harold, K. Hennacy, and E. F. Redish, (Physics Academic Software).

Students could find a host of actual data about accelerations measured in space flights in NASA's Index of Summary Reports of Mission Acceleration Measurements http://www.lerc.nasa.gov/WWW/MMAP/PIMS/HTMLS/reportlist.html.

A real g meter is described in http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/reference/ shutref/orbiter/avionics/dds/gmeter.html.

Information about the historical figures mentioned can be found at different sites. The History of Rocketry, at http://spaceline.org/rockethistory.html has (separate chapters on Tsiolkovsky, Goddard, Oberth, von Braun. Information on Tsiolkovsky can also be found about The life of Konstantin Eduardovitch Tsiolkovsky at http://www.informatics.org/museum/tsiol.html

The site http://www.fas.org/nuke/space/c02early.htm, which deals with the history of early propulsion, has information about Esnault-Pelterie.

A nice essay about Gerard O'Neill, who first dreamt up the space habitat, is at http://www.ssi.org/body_obit. html.

Science fiction ideas

The rigours associated with rocket launching, as well as historical aspects of the space race, are accurately conveyed in the movie The Right Stuff (1983) and Apollo 13 (1996).

Practical details associated with space stations appear in many sf movies - for example, 2001, A Space Odyssey (1968), and Outland (1981), but even more imaginatively in Downbelow Station (1981) by C. J. Cherryh and subsequent novels set in the same imagined time.

The idea that there are more efficient ways of raising people and payloads into space other than rockets, namely a giant "elevator" constructed between the surface of the planet and a geo-stationary satellite is explored in The Fountains of Paradise (1979) by Arthur C. Clarke, and in Green Mars (1993) by Kim Stanley Robinson.

Additional related sites

How to Become an Astronaut
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/outreach/jobsinfo/astronaut.html

How to Become an Astronaut
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/space/astronaut/

Selection and Training of Astronauts
http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/astronauts/training.html

Basics of Space Flight (On-line textbook from NASA - in particular Chapter 14)
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/basics/bsf-toc.htm

Rocket Simulations
http://www.execpc.com/~culp/rockets/rckt_sim.html

VIDEO: Liftoff to Learning: Space Basics (requires Real Player)
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/teachers/liftoff/basics.html

Shuttle Online Press Kit
http://www.shuttlepresskit.com/index.html

NASA Human Spaceflight Web
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/sitemap/

Grasping Gravity
http://edmall.gsfc.nasa.gov/inv99Project.Site/Pages/gravity.abstract.html

Space/Math - Constants and Equations for Calculations
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/space/math/

Mission Events Summary
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/archives/

Space Science Hotlist (in particular Travel/Exploration)
http://sln.fi.edu/tfi/hotlists/space.html

Gravitational Force: An Internet Based Lessson Plan
http://www.gsu.edu/~mstjrh/gravity.html

Galileo: On Motion
http://es.rice.edu/ES/humsoc/Galileo/Things/on_motion.html

Tutorial on Orbital Motion in Space
http://www.school-for-champions.com/science/orbit.htm

How Satellites Work
http://www.howstuffworks.com/satellite.htm

How Space Elevators Will Work
http://www.howstuffworks.com/space-elevator.htm

Orbital Mechanics - from Rocket and Space Technology
http://www.braeunig.us/space/orbmech.htm

Rocket and Space Technology - topics include Basics of Space Flight, Space Hardware, Space Centers, Space Missions and Space and Rocketry terms
http://www.braeunig.us/space/


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If any one comes across another web site, or chapter in a book, or other material, which they consider useful to them in teaching this module, please email us at: PhySciCH@mail.usyd.edu.au, and we will add that information to the site.

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Kaye Placing

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