Spacecraft Engineering

See also Applied Mathematics Applied Physics Atmospheric Sciences Avionics and Aircraft Instrumentation Gommunications Gomputer Science Jet Engine Technology Propulsion Technologies Space Science Space Stations Spacecraft Engineering. 

See also Architecture GivU Engineering Gomputer Science Engineering Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Spacecraft Engineering. 

See also Aeronautics and Aviation Jet Engine Technology Propulsion Technologies Spacecraft Engineering Space Science. 

See also Atmospheric Sciences Climate Modeling Climatology Meteorology Spacecraft Engineering Space Environments for Humans Space Science Space Stations Telescopy. 

See also Chemical Engineering Explosives Technologies Spacecraft Engineering. 

Spacecraft engineering is the process of designing, constructing, and testing vehicles for deployment and operation in the full expanse of space above the Earth s atmosphere, generally regarded as beginning at an altitude of fifty miles. Launch vehicles and rocket propulsion are considered part of the related but separate field of rocketry. 

Techniques that evolved to meet those challenges laid the foundation for the new field of spacecraft engineering. 

In the 1970 s, interplanetary spacecraft ranged far from the Sun and strained the capabilities of solar panels to provide sufficient electrical power. Spacecraft engineers harnessed the energy of radioactive decay to power deep-space missions and to keep the spacecraft warm so far from the Sun. Missions to Mercury and Venus, so near the Sun, posed the opposite challenge of keeping the spacecraft from overheating. 

Command, control, and data acquisition from remote platforms with limited power available for broadcasting has always been and continues to be a major communications challenge for the spacecraft engineer. 

Edwards, Bradley C., and Eric A. Westling. The Space Elevator A Revolutionary Earth-toSpace Transportation System. Houston, Tex. B.G. Edwards, 2003. A glimpse at truly exotic and daring spacecraft engineering. Excellent example of the way requirements drive design decisions in an engineering project. 

Jenkins, Dennis R. Space Shuttle The History of the National Space Transportation System—The First One Hundred Missions. 3d ed. Dennis R. Jenkins, 2001. A history of the space shuttle from a spacecraft-design perspective. Detailed schematic diagrams and voluminous photos of construction, maintenance, and operation of the shuttle reveal much about the art of manned spacecraft engineering. Mishkin, Andrew. Sojourner An Insider s View of the Mars Pathfinder Mission. New York Berkeley Books, 2003. The author is a senior systems engineer for NASA. His book is a personal glimpse of spacecraft engineering and operations. 

Seedhouse, Erik. Tourists in Space A Practical Guide. Chichester, England Praxis, 2008. A glimpse of manned spacecraft engineering as it is being done in what may be the start of a new era in manned spaceflight. 

Swinerd, Graham. How Spacecraft Fly Spaceflight Without Formulae. New York Copernicus Books, 2008. Chapters 7 through 9 give an informative discussion of spacecraft engineering without mathematics. They begin with a discussion of spacecraft at the system level and follow up with examinations of spacecraft subsystems. Chapter 10 discusses what the twenty-first century may hold for spaceflight. 

See also Spacecraft Engineering Space Science Space Stations. 

Astronautics Engineering field associated with spacecraft engineering, especially manned spacecraft. 

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