Online Course – Certified Professional Internship in Aircraft Hovercraft from Google and the University of Colorado Boulder

Internship – 3-part course series

This specialization deals with the relative trajectories of spacecraft in space. This is an important topic for mission scenarios such as:

• Meeting and docking route
• Rotation routes for testing
• Space assembly
• Reducing space debris
• Applications in space-based science

Assuming the learner has completed a comprehensive course in single-aircraft trajectory mechanics, including:

• Solutions to the two-body problem
• Troubleshooting flight time
• Understanding J2 interference on aircraft
• Developing solutions for controlling relative paths

The internship is suitable for researchers who need to learn the basics of:

• Deriving relative equations of motion for circular paths
• Elliptical
• Or even hyperbolic

Comparisons are examined and made between relative path descriptions:

• Non-linear
• and linear

Including Cartesian arc coordinates and path component differences. Analytical solutions for relative motion are developed to understand basic relative motion prototypes. Next, the effect of the J2 perturbation on relative motion is examined, including the development of relative trajectories that do not change under J2. Finally, nonlinear relative motion feedback control laws are developed to actively control relative motion. The specialization focuses on learners interested in:

• Meetings and anchoring
• Services on the route
• Or developing tasks for relative paths

Tangible Learning Project

The learner will learn how to plan, model, and control relative motion trajectories appropriate for a variety of mission scenarios. The specialization culminates in a final project in which learners will apply their knowledge to investigate how a utility aircraft will steer toward a tumbling space debris object.