Information for Fall 2024 MAE180 Orbital Mechanics (Spacecraft Guidance, Navigation and Mission Design)

General information for Fall 2024 MAE180 Orbital Mechanics:

The course syllabus (in pdf format) contains information on the course objective, content and grading policy.

Lecture: T/Th 2:00-3:20, Center 214.

Problem Session: M 10:00-10:50, Center 214.

The course grade will be obtained as indicated on the syllabus.

Contact Information:

TA: Yifei Zheng
- Problem session/office hour: W 1-2pm, EBU2 105.
- Problem session/office hour: F 10-11am on zoom.
- The zoom invitation data for that office hour can be found here.
- Office: 1601 EBU 1.
- Email: yiz152@ucsd.edu

Instructor: Prof. William McEneaney
- Office 3/4-hour: T 10:45-11:30am, 1809 EBU 1 (or contact me to set up a time).
- Office: 1809 EBU 1.
- Email: wmceneaney@ucsd.edu

N.B. regarding email:
- It is essential that your email message contain a proper salutation (with correct title/name) and an appropriate closing. Due to the student/(TA&faculty) ratio, we do not guarantee that all email will receive a response, but we will make a strong effort to respond to appropriate email.

Take-Home Final:

TENTATIVE Quiz Schedule:

Quiz 1: Thursday, October 17.

Quiz 2: Thursday, November 7.

Quiz 3: Tuesday, December 3.

Regarding the quizzes:

You must bring a blue book.
You may bring a single 8.5x11 inch sheet of HANDWRITTEN, with actual pen or pencil, notes (both sides).
Bring a pen (preferably two). Your quiz should be done in pen - not pencil. If it is done in pencil, regrade requests will be denied.
You must bring your ID.
You may bring a calculator, but it must be not exceed the following dimensions: 7.75 inches long, 3.75 inches wide.
The calculator must NOT be a graphing calculator.

Homework Assignments:

Notes regarding homework:

See the syllabus regarding due date and time.
Also note the remark there about the fact that the homework you hand in must be clearly your own.
Your homework must be handed in through gradescope by the indicated deadline.
The entry code for the course on gradescope is TBD.

Homework Assignment #1 is TBD.

Class Notes:

Class notes are TBD.

There is some matlab code that you may find helpful here.

Approximate list of topics to be covered (varies somewhat from quarter to quarter):

Gravitational potential.
Two-body problem in the plane.
Coordinate systems and Earth model.
Maneuvers.
Perturbations and interplanetary motion.
Stationkeeping.
Aeromaneuvering.
Telemetry.
Navigation.
Stationary-action.
Gravity assists.

Back to my homepage

Email me at wmceneaney@ucsd.edu