Sign-In
Cart
An Illustrated Fundamentals of Orbital Mechanics for Engineers: A Complete Visual Guide to Astrodynamics, Kepler's Laws, Orbit Determination, Maneuver
Paperback
Technology & EngineeringPhysics
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Aug 5 2026
Pages: 404
Weight: 2.05
Height: 0.83 Width: 8.50 Depth: 11.00
Language: English
CAN YOU ACTUALLY CALCULATE A HOHMANN TRANSFER - OR JUST RECOGNIZE THE NAME?
Most orbital mechanics textbooks force an impossible choice: rigorous graduate-level math with zero physical intuition, or accessible explanations that leave you unable to compute anything real. If you've ever finished a chapter on Kepler's laws or orbital elements and still couldn't size a transfer orbit, determine an orbit from observations, or plan a rendezvous maneuver from scratch - the problem isn't you. It's the book.
This is the orbital mechanics textbook built to fix that, permanently.
An Illustrated Fundamentals of Orbital Mechanics for Engineers is a complete, from-first-principles guide to astrodynamics - covering Kepler's laws, orbit determination, Lambert's problem, orbital maneuvers, rendezvous and proximity operations, interplanetary trajectory design, gravity assist, and orbital perturbations. Every equation is derived. Every constant is locked and stated once, used consistently across all 16 chapters. Every one of the 168 figures is placed exactly where the concept demands it - not collected at the back like an afterthought. And every worked example is carried to the final digit, so a reader with a calculator reproduces every result independently.
This isn't a book you read passively. It's a book you compute your way through.
What You'll Master:- Real computational fluency in astrodynamics - deriving and solving orbital mechanics problems from first principles, not pattern-matching formulas
- A single locked constant set (μ, J2, WGS84 radius, and more) used identically in every chapter, so your results are never quietly corrupted by mismatched data
- 168 precision-placed illustrations that finally make orbital geometry click - eccentricity vectors, hyperbolic asymptotes, porkchop plots, relative-motion ellipses
- 200+ fully worked practice problems, solved in complete detail across all 16 chapters - not just answers, but the full reasoning
- A complete path from foundational vector math to mission design - orbit determination, satellite coverage and visibility, impulsive maneuvers, rendezvous, interplanetary transfer, gravity assist, and perturbation analysis
- The judgment to catch a software error - because you'll understand exactly what the tool is computing, and why, instead of trusting a black box
- Aerospace and mechanical engineering students who need to compute orbits, not just describe them
- Graduate students entering astrodynamics who want a rigorous foundation before specialized coursework or research
- Practicing engineers who need working competence in orbital mechanics fast, for real mission or systems work
- Self-taught learners with a calculus and differential equations background who are serious about mastering spaceflight mechanics - no prior orbital mechanics experience required
- Anyone entering mission design, orbit determination, or spacecraft systems engineering who's tired of guessing and wants to compute with confidence
Every correctly worked calculation in this book predicts, decades in advance, exactly where a spacecraft will be. That's not magic - it's method. And this book teaches the method.
Scroll up and get your copy of An Illustrated Fundamentals of Orbital Mechanics for Engineers - and start building orbital mechanics competence that shows up in real results, not just exam scores.
Also from
Vireth, Bastian K.
An Illustrated Introduction to Aerodynamics for Engineers: A Visual Guide to Aerodynamics, Airflow, and Aircraft Design
Vireth, Bastian K.
Paperback
Also in
Technology & Engineering
All Data Are Local: Thinking Critically in a Data-Driven Society
Loukissas, Yanni Alexander
Paperback
The Age of Living Machines: How Biology Will Build the Next Technology Revolution
Hockfield, Susan
Paperback
Ingenious Patents: Bubble Wrap, Barbed Wire, Bionic Eyes, and Other Pioneering Inventions
Bennett, Jay
Ikenson, Ben
Hardcover
The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI: How to Think about Artificial Intelligence--Before It's Too Late
Doctorow, Cory
Paperback
Improvised Munitions Black Book: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume
U S Government
Paperback
The Agi Chronicles: The Inside Story of the Race to Create an Artificial Superintelligence
Roose, Kevin
Hardcover
You Don't Need a Smartphone: A Practical Guide to Downgrading Your Phone and Upgrading Your Life
Lamm, August
Paperback
AI for Good: How Real People Are Using Artificial Intelligence to Fix Things That Matter
Tyrangiel, Josh
Hardcover
The Infinity Machine: Demis Hassabis, Deepmind, and the Quest for Superintelligence
Mallaby, Sebastian
Hardcover
The Story of Your Life: How Social Media Shapes the Way We Experience Everything
Jezer-Morton, Kathryn
Hardcover
Ultimate Guide: Wiring, Updated 10th Edition: Meets Current National Electrical Code Standards
The Editors of Creative Homeowner
Paperback
Basic Butchering of Livestock & Game: Beef, Veal, Pork, Lamb, Poultry, Rabbit, Venison
Mettler, John J.
Paperback
Lightning Beneath the Sea: The Race to Wire the World and the Dawn of the Information Age
Tabor, James M.
Hardcover
Like, Follow, Subscribe: Influencer Kids and the Cost of a Childhood Online
Latifi, Fortesa
Hardcover
Kobuk the Destroyer: And Other Tales from the Wild, Unseen World of Test Engineering
Davies, Alex
Hardcover
Empire of Ink: The Printers, Rogues, and Radicals Who Invented the American Newspaper
Wright, Alex
Hardcover
No One's Coming: The Rogue Heroes Our Government Turns to When There's Nowhere Else to Turn
Hazzard, Kevin
Hardcover
Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster
Higginbotham, Adam
Paperback
The Home Blacksmith: Tools, Techniques, and 40 Practical Projects for the Home Blacksmith
Ridgway, Ryan
Paperback
City on the Edge: Technology, Politics, and the Fight for the Soul of San Francisco
Weber, Jonathan
Hardcover
The Ultimate Guide to Rebuilding a Civilization: A Technical Manual for the Post-Collapse Era
Evans, James
Paperback
Curved Air: A Biography of Sickle Cell Anemia and the Quest to Cure the First Molecular Disease
Davies, Kevin
Hardcover
The Problem with Plastic: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It's Too Late
Beyond Plastics
Enck, Judith
Mahoney, Adam
Hardcover
The Elements of Power: A Story of War, Technology, and the Dirtiest Supply Chain on Earth
Niarchos, Nicolas
Hardcover
Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence
Crawford, Kate
Paperback
AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can't, and How to Tell the Difference
Narayanan, Arvind
Kapoor, Sayash
Paperback
Crisis Engineering: Time-Tested Tools for Turning Chaos Into Clarity
Dickerson, Mikey
Nitze, Marina
Weaver, Matthew
Paperback
Generation Regeneration: Codesigning the Future of Cities Through Regenerative Placemaking
Cho, Tony
Hardcover
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope
Kamkwamba, William
Mealer, Bryan
Paperback
CompTIA Tech+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, Third Edition (Exam FC0-U71)
Wempen, Faithe
Paperback
Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans (with a New Preface)
Mitchell, Melanie
Paperback
A Brief History of Cities in 32 Inventions: The Ideas and Technologies That Made Modernity Possible
Elledge, Jonn
Hardcover
Human + Machine, Updated and Expanded: Reimagining Work in the Age of AI
Daugherty, Paul R.
Wilson, H. James
Hardcover
Meat: How the Next Agricultural Revolution Will Transform Humanity's Favorite Food--And Our Future
Friedrich, Bruce
Hardcover
The New Age of Sexism: How AI and Emerging Technologies Are Reinventing Misogyny
Bates, Laura
Hardcover
Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water, Revised Edition
Reisner, Marc
Paperback
Inconspicuous Consumption: The Environmental Impact You Don't Know You Have
Schlossberg, Tatiana
Paperback
Make: Electronics: Learning by Discovery: A Hands-On Primer for the New Electronics Enthusiast
Platt, Charles
Paperback
Bringing Columbia Home: The Untold Story of a Lost Space Shuttle and Her Crew
Leinbach, Michael D.
Ward, Jonathan H.
Paperback
Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge: Faa-H-8083-25c
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
Hardcover
CNC Woodworking for the Absolute Beginner: Winning Tips, Techniques & 5 Skill-Building Projects
Bagnall, Ralph
Paperback
The Bullwhip's Algorithm: Artificial Intelligence and America's Racial Caste System
Bobb, Kamau
Hardcover
The Baofeng Radio Revolution: The Beginner Guerrilla's Guide to Break Through the Complexity, Secure Communications, and Prepare for Disaster With Pre
Code Publishing, Morse
Hardcover
High-Wing Aircraft Visualized Flight Maneuvers Manual: For Pilots in Training
ASA Test Prep Board
Paperback
Bioinspired: How Nature Made Us Modern, Drives Today's Technological Innovation, and Inspires a Future Worth Inventing
Stier, Samuel Cord
Hardcover
AI Projects with Raspberry Pi: High-Performance Artificial Intelligence for Robotics, Security, Home Automation, and Vision
Hattersley, Lucy
Jepson, Brian
Paperback
The Trillion Dollar War Machine: How Runaway Military Spending Drives America Into Foreign Wars and Bankrupts Us at Home
Hartung, William D.
Freeman, Ben
Hardcover
The Bitter Struggle: Superintelligence, Superpowers, and the Fate of the World
Buchanan, Ben
Collins, Tantum
Hardcover
Tubes: A Journey to the Center of the Internet with a New Introduction by the Author
Blum, Andrew
Paperback
Broken Money: Why Our Financial System is Failing Us and How We Can Make it Better
Alden, Lyn
Paperback
Agentic Artificial Intelligence: Harnessing AI Agents to Reinvent Business, Work, and Life
Wirtz, Jochen
Davenport, Thomas H.
Bornet
Paperback
Disneyland and the Rise of Automation: How Technology Created the Happiest Place on Earth
Betancourt, Roland
Hardcover
Drawing Lessons with Da Vinci: An Artist's Guide to Geometry, Anatomy and Proportion
Roig, Gabriel Martín
Paperback
ASE Technician Test Preparation Automotive Maintenance and Light Repair (G1)
Delmar Cengage Learning
Paperback
The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the Twenty-First Century's Greatest Dilemma
Suleyman, Mustafa
Hardcover
AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can't, and How to Tell the Difference
Narayanan, Arvind
Kapoor, Sayash
Hardcover
How to Use an Oscilloscope 2026: Master Measurement Skills for Electronics Beginners and Pros
Grant, Nathaniel Cole
Paperback
Air Force Handbook 10-644 Survival Evasion Resistance Escape SERE Operations: 27 March 2017
The Air Force, Department of
Paperback
Texas DMV Driver's Handbook: Practice for the Texas Permit Test with 350+ Driving Questions and Answers
Prep, Discover
Paperback
Reinventing Wool: How a Natural Fiber Survived the Synthetic Revolution
Littlefield, Melissa M.
Hardcover
Essential Off-Grid Survival Projects: 50 Life-Saving Solutions for Shelter, Water, Food, and Safety
Furneaux, Ky
Hardcover
Spec Ops: Case Studies in Special Operations Warfare: Theory and Practice
McRaven, William H.
Paperback
The Powerful Primate: How Controlling Energy Enabled Us to Build Civilization
Ennos, Roland
Hardcover
The Unaccountability Machine: Why Big Systems Make Terrible Decisions--And How the World Lost Its Mind
Davies, Dan
Paperback
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time
Sobel, Dava
Paperback