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This book will explore the fundamentals of spacecraft charging: why it occurs, when it occurs, where it occurs, how to measure it, and its side effects. It will discuss state-of-the-art spacecraft charging technologies, which will be explained in detail and with pedagogical emphasis. Exercises for further learning will be included to facilitate a deeper understanding of the material. It will be of interest to advanced undergraduate and graduate students, in addition to researchers working in physics and engineering keen to understand more about spacecraft interactions with space plasmas.Key Features: Translates complex terminology into accessible language Authored by experts in the field Provides worked examples and exercises for further learning

The Dynamics of Natural Satellites of the Planets is an accessible reference for understanding the celestial mechanics of planetary moons through the lens of both theory and observation. Based on decades of research by the author, the book utilizes state-of-the-art observations of the natural satellites in the solar system to establish models, measurements and calculations to better understand the theory of the satellite movement and dynamics. It presents an extensive set of study methods and results on the motion of natural satellites of the planets and includes reviews and references to related publication for further explanation. By relating observations to numerical theory, the book serves as a quick and comprehensive reference for applying the theory of orbital dynamics to observational data on orbits and physical properties of the natural satellites in order to formulate state-of-the-art explanations and models, particularly for determining the parameters of satellite motion. - Combines astronomy and celestial mechanics, providing astrometric data from observations to inform methods and models for predicting natural satellite dynamics - Includes both theory and observation in one place and presents new models based on observations - Organized into small sections, each providing specific measurements, calculations or models, making it a quick and comprehensive reference

This book develops a general approach that can be systematically refined to investigate the statics and dynamics of deformable solid bodies. These methods are then employed to small bodies in the Solar System. With several space missions underway and more being planned, interest in our immediate neighbourhood is growing. In this spirit, this book investigates various phenomena encountered in planetary science, including disruptions during planetary fly-bys, equilibrium shapes and stability of small rubble bodies, and spin-driven shape changes. The flexible procedure proposed here will help readers gain valuable insights into the mechanics of solar system bodies, while at the same time complementing numerical investigations. The technique itself is built upon the virial method successfully employed by Chandrasekhar (1969) to study the equilibrium shapes of spinning fluid objects. However, here Chandrasekhar's approach is modified in order to study more complex dynamical situations and include objects of different rheologies, e.g., granular aggregates, or “rubble piles”. The book is largely self-contained, though some basic familiarity with continuum mechanics will be beneficial.

These words are written on the SOOth anniversary of Columbus'discovery of the New World. Surely the deep-space exploration of other worlds in our Solar System over the past few decades is an event of similar magnitude. Man has traveled far enough to see Spaceship Earth suspended alone in black space. And he has voyaged even farther to marvel at the crescent Earth rising over the Moon's cratered terrain. Instrumented spacecraft have toured the entire Solar System even beyond the ninth planet Pluto. This work of science Morphology of the Rocky Members of the Solar System is an inquiry about our extended home. As with the Darwinian and Copernican paradigms, the nature of our planetary system, as the extended world around us, has great significance for those who ponder the human condition. The deep-space views of our Planet Ocean with its sweeping clouds, and moving oceans and creeping continents must rank as the greatest photograph ever taken. Viewing Spaceship Earth hanging in the vast void is an almost frightening experience. We are so alone! It is easy to understand why so many are attracted to a simpler account of origins, like the allegorical tale of creation written in heroic style (but eschewing math, maps, figures, tables, references, and evidence) in the first eleven chapters of Genesis. This treatise examines the morphology of the six rocky planets and their 27 satellites from a broad perspective.

Starting from Mars outward this concise handbook provides thorough information on the satellites of the planets in the solar system. Each chapter begins with a section on the discovery and the naming of the planet's satellites or rings. This is followed by a section presenting the historic sources of those names. The book contains tables with the orbital and physical parameters of all satellites and is illustrated throughout with modern photos of the planets and their moons as well as historical and mythological drawings. The Cyrillic transcriptions of the satellite names are provided in a register. Readers interested in the history of astronomy and its mythological backgrounds will enjoy this beautiful volume.

The planet Venus is the closest neighbour to the Earth and in several respects similar to our globe. It revolves around the Sun at an average distance of 0. 72 astronomical units, in an elliptical orbit of eccentricity 0. 007. The corresponding 3 numbers for the Earth are 1 and 0. 017. The mean density of Venus is 5. 2 g/cm, 3 that of the Earth 5. 5 g/cm. Venus'acceleration of gravity at its equator is 8. 9 2 2 m/s, compared with 9. 8 m/s at the Earth. The escape velocity is 10. 4 km/s, while the corresponding?gure of the Earth is 11. 2 km/s. Although the mass of Venus is somewhat smaller than that of the Earth – the ratio is M /M =0. 815 V E – the diameters of the two planets are almost the same. In other words, Venus is indeed a sister planet of the Earth. In earlier times, when almost nothing was known about the physical con- tions of Venus, the similarity appeared even stronger than today. Not only was Venus'period of rotation thought to be close to that of the Earth, it wasalso p- sible (and indeed common) to imagine intelligent life on Venus.