Orbital and Celestial Mechanics (Progress in Astronautics & Aeronautics)

Lecture notes from a course first given in 1966 explain the contributions to the aerospace sciences by the late professor Vinti, describing his potential theory in orbital mechanics and his interpretation of elements of celestial mechanics. Eight early chapters provide fundamentals of orbital and celestial mechanics, with material on areas such as Newton's laws, Lagrangian dynamics, Hamilton-Jacobi theory, and the Vinti Spheroidal Method for Satellite Orbits and Ballistic Trajectories. Remaining 18 chapters cover additional topics of important elements of orbital and celestial mechanics, including Delauney variables, Gaussian variational equations for Jacobi and Keplerian elements, and the effects of drag on satellite orbits. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.