The Space Environment and Its Effects on Space Systems, Second Edition (AIAA Education Series)

This book is intended to serve two audiences: firstly, those who wish to obtain an understanding of the physics of the space environment; and secondly, those who wish to understand the engineering aspects of the effects of the space environment on space systems. The level of the material is appropriate for an undergraduate or beginning graduate engineering audience and for those experts, in fields other than the space environment, who wish to obtain a basic knowledge of the space environment and its effects on the design and performance of space systems. While the primary emphasis of the book is the interaction of spacecraft with the Earth s environment, the topics also address the extraterrestrial environment.

The Space Environment and Its Effects on Space Systems, Second Edition has been developed so that the topics, and the depth with which they are presented, are appropriate for a good understanding by someone with the equivalent of an undergraduate degree in the sciences and engineering and knowledge of differential and integral calculus. To assist the reader, sufficient numerical examples are provided and the problem sets for each chapter include answers. Copious references are provided that help direct the reader to additional information.