Astrodynamics
MIT OpenCourseWare's Astrodynamics course covers the two-body orbital initial-value and boundary-value problems, with applications to space vehicle navigation and guidance for lunar and planetary missions, including powered flight and midcourse maneuvers. Topics include celestial mechanics, Kepler's problem, Lambert's problem, orbit determination, multi-body methods, mission planning, and recursive algorithms for space navigation. Selected case studies draw on the Apollo, Space Shuttle, and Mars exploration programs to ground the mathematics in real mission design. Materials include lecture notes, problem sets, and assignments from MIT's Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, freely available to audit with no certificate offered. The course assumes a solid background in orbital mechanics and differential equations, making it suited to advanced undergraduates or graduate students working on spacecraft trajectory design and navigation problems.