Deep Space Craft: An Overview of Interplanetary Flight

Springer Praxis Books: Astronautical Engineering

by Dave Doody

Deep Space Craft opens the door to interplanetary flight. It looks at this world from the vantage point of real operations on a specific mission, and follows a natural trail from the day-to-day working of this particular spacecraft, through the functioning of all spacecraft to the collaboration of the various disciplines to produce the results for which a spacecraft is designed. These results are of course mostly of a scientific nature, although a small number of interplanetary missions are also flown primarily to test and prove new engineering techniques. The author shows how, in order to make sense of all the scientific data coming back to Earth, the need for experiments and instrumentation arises, and follows the design and construction of the instruments through to their placement and testing on a spacecraft prior to launch. Examples are given of the interaction between an instrument’s science team and the mission’s flight team to plan and specify observations, gather and analyze data in flight, and finally present the results and discoveries to the scientific community. This highly focused, insider’s guide to interplanetary space exploration uses many examples of previous and current endeavors. It will enable the reader to research almost any topic related to spacecraft and to seek the latest scientific findings, the newest emerging technologies, or the current status of a favorite flight. In order to provide easy paths from the general to the specific, the text constantly refers to the Appendices. Within the main text, the intent is general familiarization and categorization of spacecraft and instruments at a high level, to provide a mental framework to place in context and understand any spacecraft and any instrument encountered in the reader’s experience. Appendix A gives illustrated descriptions of many interplanetary spacecraft, some earth-orbiters and ground facilities to reinforce the classification framework. Appendix B contains illustrated detailed descriptions of a dozen scientific instruments, including some ground-breaking engineering appliances that have either already been in operation or are poised for flight. Each instrument’s range of sensitivity in wavelengths of light, etc, and its physical principle(s) of operation is described. Appendix C has a few annotated illustrations to clarify the nomenclature of regions and structures in the solar system and the planets’ ring systems, and places the solar system in context with the local interstellar environment.

Genres: Space, Research

464 pages, Hardcover

First published May 20, 2009

Reviews

[Jacob Way · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book as a means of improving my general spacecraft knowledge for my new career as a component engineer at a space company. I came into the job from an unrelated position as a military officer with a bachelor of arts degree and wanted something complex and challenging for a rookie, but readable. This book hit the mark. I'd call this book the "SMAD Junior."

The book was a grand survey of spacecraft, their development, constituent parts and associated technologies, with occasional dives into the physics, radio propogation theory, chemistry, or other key science topic useful for understanding a given technology.

My own job, component engineering, that I now commit all my working hours to, had one paragraph dedicated to it in this ~300 page read, which goes to show the vast field that is spacecraft engineering and how comprehensive this book was in hitting an immense number of topics.

A pleasure to read. Took me a long time with taking careful notes and reading through some of the vast footnotes. Reccomended for any middle or junior engineer in the space industry.

It's been exceptionally helpful in my job where I scrutinize anything in the spacecraft with a semiconductor device. The book helps you reach several steps beyond surface level knowledge about reaction wheels, coarse sun sensors, star trackers, radio systems, communication windows, and plenty more. I got a little ego boost when I was able to explain to a co-worker who was encountering a reaction wheel how and why they work.

I can tell Dave Doody put a great deal of thought into this, trying to capture as much of the breadth of spacecraft engineering as he could with sufficient detail but also packing it all into 300 pages. Pretty much a systems engineering problem in itself. Thank you Dave!