Fundamentals of Astrodynamics and Applications (Space Technology Library) (Space Technology Library) | 
 enlarge | Author: David A. Vallado
Publisher: Springer
Category: Book
Buy New: $199.00
New (1) from $199.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 1262016
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 3
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 980
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3.2
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 6.3 x 2
ISBN: 0387718311
Dewey Decimal Number: 629.41
EAN: 9780387718316
ASIN: 0387718311
Publication Date: May 22, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Fundamentals of Astrodynamics and Applications is rapidly becoming the standard astrodynamics reference for those involved in the business of spaceflight. What sets this book apart is that nearly all of the theoretical mathematics is followed by discussions of practical applications implemented in tested software routines. For example, the book includes a compendium of algorithms that allow students and professionals to determine orbits with high precision using a PC. Without a doubt, when an astrodynamics problem arises in the future, it will become standard practice for engineers to keep this volume close at hand and `look it up in Vallado'. While the first edition was an exceptionally useful and popular book throughout the community, there are a number of reasons why the second edition will be even more so. There are many reworked examples and derivations. Newly introduced topics include ground illumination calculations, Moon rise and set, and a listing of relevant Internet sites. There is an improved and expanded discussion of coordinate systems, orbit determination, and differential correction. Perhaps most important is that all of the software routines described in the book are now available for free in FORTRAN, PASCAL, and C. This makes the second edition an even more valuable text and superb reference.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Excellent coverage! May 25, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I would not recommend it for the beginner and would recommend Fundamentals of Astrodynamics by Bate, Muller, and White (often call it "BMW") instead. However, this is an excellent book for practical numerical analysis of orbits and trajectories.
It includes detailed coverage of reference frames, numerical prorogation methods, perturbing forces including spherical-harmonic representations of gravity models, dynamical time, line-of-sight and line-of-light analysis, and other important topics and was extremely helpful when I was designing "frozen" orbits around the moon.
The only thing that I felt that this book lacked was a detailed explanation of the JPL ephemeris, ballistic capture trajectories, and trajectory optimization. Nevertheless, this book "feels" like a classic the ("Valldo" book) is a must-have in any GN&C reference collection.
Excellent book for the practicing engineer November 8, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I find this book to be excellent from the point of view of the practicing engieneer. Vallado gives a lot of details on how to solve practical problems and puts a wealth of information in terms one can use almost directly to write algorithms.
The book is structured so that the chapters flow in logical manner. Once you understand the logic you'll have no problem navigating the book.
It is true it is not a book for beginners. I've tried to teach Orbital Mechanics out of it to junior level aerospace engineering students and most of them didn't like it.
The book has quite a few typos but an errata is available on the publisher's website. Also available on the publisher's website are the algorithms presented in the book - in FORTRAN, C, C++, Ada, and MATLAB.
Overall I believe that Vallado put back "Fun" in "Fundamentals".
Enjoy!
 Notes on Vallado's book May 10, 2001
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is a book I would definitely recommend for those interested in the practical application of basic Astrodynamics. The only real problem is you have to double check the math since there are a fairly large number of errors in the computations. I especially like the discussions comparing and contrasting different methods and algorithms.
Admirable survey April 19, 2000
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
This is a detailed text covering a broad collection of the most relevant topics, primarily aimed at engineers and engineering students practicing astrodynamic theory and orbit determination. It properly emphasizes that modern astrodynamics is now practiced on the computer, combining numerical methods with classical celestial mechanics to provide dozens of algorithms suitable for machine solution. It excels on two fronts: 1) it provides much generic "pseudo-code" (computer recipes) for writing subprograms, and 2) it touches on everything from Keplerian motion to estimation theory to atmospheric modeling for drag perturbations. Because it covers so much in under 1000 pages, the author does not fully derive all the algorithms. However, there is a fifteen page appendix of additional references, and the author's disarming writing style makes the text very approachable to the student. It is well illustrated with excellent diagrams and numerous tables, and much of the notation (equations and symbols) is standardized with other textbooks in this field.Being a 1st edition, it has a few mistakes. There is a couple of noticeable equation typos and some numerical errors in a few of the many examples (the programmer will quickly discover these). There is probably undue emphasis on some minor topics, and likewise a few important concepts are sometimes briefly mentioned without clarity. Being so broad in scope, the reader is sometimes required to go from chapter to chapter to get the big picture or gather all the details. While this may be distracting at times, most of the needed information is there - few astrodynamics textbooks can claim to be as complete. An engineer or computer programmer who needs to solve problems in this field will immediately discover that this title serves to fill a large void in the academic literature on non-relativistic astrodynamics. Those wanting a purer treatise of fundamental theory might find a text on analytical celestial mechanics or dynamical astronomy will help supplement this text for self-study.
 Lousy attempt March 1, 2000
9 out of 17 found this review helpful
I felt that this book made a very lousy attempt at clearly explaining the subject material. I had previously owned Fundamentals of Astrodynamics and had hoped that this book would provide additional useful information. I have since ended up throwing this book into the pit out back where I accumulate wasteful material for future burning. I would not recommend this book to an engineer or scientist in the field.
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