From: Keith Watt <kwatt@a...>
Date: Sat, 13 Mar 1999 21:50:31 -0500 (Eastern Standard Time)
Subject: [FT] New on the Solar Thrust site
Hi all - I've finally finished the article on orbital transfers that goes along with the Java applet I posted a few days ago (I also corrected a few minor things in the applet itself). This article is very algebra-heavy, but hopefully explains things fairly clearly. Most of this is taken from the reference materials I used when I worked in the orbital mechanics branch of NASA/MSFC. For those who want the procedure and don't care about the derivation, skip all the way down to the bottom for a cookbook procedure for astrogation. As always, if (when) anyone notices the inevitable mistakes, please let me know and I'll correct them. Also, I've added an article that I wrote last year on gravitational wave detectors as spacecraft sensors. While I don't think such a thing is viable right now (or in the near future), since it's what I do for a living I thought I'd go ahead and look at some possiblities. Enjoy!