This book is written to give aerospace professionals and students a thorough understanding of the aerospace aspects of space programs. The book focuses on deriving results from the primary physics and engineering fundamentals necessary to understand and design space-based systems. State-of-the-art descriptions of U.S. and international space technologies and systems, from this rapidly changing field, are included whenever they add permanent validity to the book.
Rudolph Meyer is well known in the aerospace engineering community with over 30 years of experience. Dr. Meyer was the Division General Manager and Chief Engineer for The Aerospace Corporation. Dr. Meyer is currently an Adjunct Professor in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. The author also has received the U.S. Air Force Space Division Excellence Award. He has also received appointment as a Regents Lecture at the University of California. Dr. Meyer is the author of more than 50 papers in professional journals and he holds 13 patents.