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Space Flight for Beginners
You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand rocket science. This book shows how easy it is to understand space flight and orbital mechanics. In this book you'll learn how gravitational and centripetal forces cancel to enable orbits. You'll learn how orbits are classified and how to do orbital transfers. You'll even learn to do space mission design for interplanetary missions. Finally, you'll lean how to simulate orbits on your computer. You'll be surprised how easy it really is. With this book you also get the author's computer code for simulating orbits.
182 pages, Paperback
Published November 16, 2025
173 people are currently reading
61 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 1, 2020
Really short and very clear book about physics of space flight. Author deliberately simplifies all processes description for better understanding and he succeeds.
March 11, 2020
I really liked the book because of the high useful info per page ratio: it's short but touches upon a lot of orbital mechanics concepts that were unknown for me like orbit features (eccentricity, apogee, etc.), simplest way of changing orbits with example calculations (Hohmann transfer orbit), basics of how simulators work and some more.
June 25, 2018
Great companion before you go to see a rocket competition!
I recently attended a large rocket launch competition in New Mexico, where more than 100 rockets were shown and test launched. I got hooked but this book would have been the perfect companion. It has simple but fundamental explanations of flying physics.
I recently attended a large rocket launch competition in New Mexico, where more than 100 rockets were shown and test launched. I got hooked but this book would have been the perfect companion. It has simple but fundamental explanations of flying physics.
November 19, 2018
Well done
An excellent intro into the fields of astrodynamics and orbital mechanics. I highly recommend reading this for future engineering students, ext.
An excellent intro into the fields of astrodynamics and orbital mechanics. I highly recommend reading this for future engineering students, ext.
May 25, 2019
Rocket science for everyone
This book is a very good primer on orbital mechanics, suitable for anyone who has finished Mae and Ira Freeman's "You will go to the Moon".
This book is a very good primer on orbital mechanics, suitable for anyone who has finished Mae and Ira Freeman's "You will go to the Moon".
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews