Kinematics: Description of spacecraft motions

The motion of bodies in space (such as spacecraft, satellites, and space stations) must be predicted and controlled with high accuracy to ensure safety and efficiency. Kinematics is the field that develops descriptions and predictions of the motion of these bodies in three-dimensional space. This kinematics course covers four main areas: an introduction to particle kinematics, a deep dive into rigid body kinematics in two parts (starting with the classical description of motion using a matrix of Euler direction cosines and angles, and ending with an overview of modern descriptors such as quaternions, classical, and modified Rodrigues parameters). The course concludes with a look at static orientation determination, using modern algorithms to predict and perform relative orientations of bodies in space. After completing this course, you will be able to... * Differentiate a vector observed in another rotating frame and derive frame-dependent velocity and acceleration vectors * Apply the transfer theorem to solve particle kinematic problems and translate between different sets of orientation descriptions * Add and subtract relative orientation descriptions and numerically integrate these descriptions to predict orientation over time * Derive fundamental properties of the orientation coordinates of rigid bodies and determine orientation from a series of heading measurements