1
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. Spagnulo, The Geopolitics of Space Exploration, Springer Praxis Books,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69125-7_1
1
Fundamentals of Astronautics
“Interestingly, according to modern astronomers, Universe is finite. This is
a very comforting thought - particularly for people who can never remember
where they have left things.”
Woody Allen
Most people, unless they have studied aerospace engineering or astrophysics, are
not aware of the complicated mathematical laws regulating spaceflight outside the
Earth’s atmosphere or between planets in the solar system. Almost everyone has
been influenced by science fiction movies, which since the fifties have been showing spaceships as cosmic airplanes capable of performing hypersonic accelerations and breath-taking turns, engaging in duels with laser weapons and firing
thousands of light beams into the cosmic void.
These spectacular manoeuvres are impossible to achieve, not just because of
current limitations of technology, but because they are simply not allowed by the
laws of orbital mechanics. Just go to NASA’s official website and watch the docking of a cargo ship to the ISS; the lack of dynamism in this manoeuvre will be
evident. Both approaching space vehicles are flying at an unimaginable speed of
16,700 miles per hour, but despite this, the whole sequence seems slow and even
a bit boring.
The following nonmathematical, nontechnical pages have been written to illustrate some aspects of astronautical science in a way that is accessible to anyone.
To keep it simple, consider the similarities and differences between spaceships
and airplanes, the only vehicles that most people take to lift themselves off the
ground and come closer to the starry sky. The motion of a spaceship differs from
that of an airplane in three ways.
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. Spagnulo, The Geopolitics of Space Exploration, Springer Praxis Books,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69125-7_1
1
Fundamentals of Astronautics
“Interestingly, according to modern astronomers, Universe is finite. This is
a very comforting thought - particularly for people who can never remember
where they have left things.”
Woody Allen
Most people, unless they have studied aerospace engineering or astrophysics, are
not aware of the complicated mathematical laws regulating spaceflight outside the
Earth’s atmosphere or between planets in the solar system. Almost everyone has
been influenced by science fiction movies, which since the fifties have been showing spaceships as cosmic airplanes capable of performing hypersonic accelerations and breath-taking turns, engaging in duels with laser weapons and firing
thousands of light beams into the cosmic void.
These spectacular manoeuvres are impossible to achieve, not just because of
current limitations of technology, but because they are simply not allowed by the
laws of orbital mechanics. Just go to NASA’s official website and watch the docking of a cargo ship to the ISS; the lack of dynamism in this manoeuvre will be
evident. Both approaching space vehicles are flying at an unimaginable speed of
16,700 miles per hour, but despite this, the whole sequence seems slow and even
a bit boring.
The following nonmathematical, nontechnical pages have been written to illustrate some aspects of astronautical science in a way that is accessible to anyone.
To keep it simple, consider the similarities and differences between spaceships
and airplanes, the only vehicles that most people take to lift themselves off the
ground and come closer to the starry sky. The motion of a spaceship differs from
that of an airplane in three ways.