Spacecraft Dynamics and Control

Something that could help you get an idea for what engineering classes are like is the Spacecraft Dynamics and Control specialization on Coursera (https://www.coursera.org/specializations/spacecraft-dynamics-control)

I took it before decided to do grad school and actually ended up taking the exact course that that specialization is based of off (ASEN 5010 at CU Boulder).

Having a strong background in math will give you a leg up actually, because the engineering classes don't go into much depth on the math and a lot of students end up confused. I say this as someone who did both math and engineering in undergrad. I'm actually thinking I might drop my aero masters for a math masters and maybe take some aero classes here and there. I think I'd be a more impressive candidate with a math masters than an aero masters.

Best of luck.

I do have a resource, but not sure how good it is. There is a MOOC on Coursera called Spacecraft Dynamics and Control. Not really sure how much depth this has. If anyone here could provide some info that would be great.

Anyone have any experience using MOOCs for advancement? I see Courses has one for spacecraft dynamics and control by UCBoulder

https://www.coursera.org/specializations/spacecraft-dynamics-control

> I use basic recent historical context as proof that evidently Chinese produced uncontrolled spacecrafts have fallen near people.

Something happening before doesn't change the fact that the chances of it happening are miniscule. The chances of it happening this time are completely divorced variables from what happened in a prior rocket.

>What do you know from this rocket stage that differs from the last one

There are many variables that go into the motion of objects in the atmosphere. Those numbers will not be the same as last time, or else you'd be able to predict where it falls this time based on where it falls last time. I suggest you actually learn about what determines where something will be: https://www.coursera.org/specializations/spacecraft-dynamics-control

You might find this interesting: https://www.coursera.org/specializations/spacecraft-dynamics-control

Go checkout Hanspeter Schaubs Lectures on "Spacecraft Attitude Dynamics and Control" on Coursera. -> https://www.coursera.org/specializations/spacecraft-dynamics-control Great lecture, extraordinary instructor. I hold a M.S. in AE and what I would have given for a course like this back in Grad school!

Here are a couple of recommendations and who I would recommend them to.

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Analytical Mechanics of Space Systems by Schaub and Junkins - I would recommend this to anyone hoping to get into doing actual AD&C for satellites. This book is written by two giants of the field and it shows.

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Coursera: Spacecraft Dynamics and controls- I would recommend this to someone also hoping to do AD&C, but want a more traditional class instead of self-learning. Taught by Schaub, I would expect this to be an extremely rigorous and good spacecraft dynamics course.

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Aerospace Dynamics- This is a free MIT open courseware which should go over the basics of satellite dynamics and frames/transformations.

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Not silly at all, here they are:

https://www.coursera.org/specializations/spacecraft-dynamics-control

https://www.coursera.org/specializations/deep-learning

These were the main ones, even though I did finish a few others on CAD, from Autodesk.