264 pgs, 1996 Princeton University Press
ISBN 978-0691044590

Planning orbits for artificial satellites depends on solving equations of motion for planets and satellites. The authors first present and solve the classical two-body motion problem, using vector algebra to develop the six integrals of motion from Newton's laws, then apply modern perturbation techniques to practical cases, such as the effect of drag on a satellite or rotation of nonsymmetric planets. They place greater importance on rigorous development of the equations than on their solutions, so few numerical problems appear, but necessary algorithms have been provided throughout the book.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Part I

1. Background
2. The Two-Body Problem
3. Kepler's Laws
4. Methods of Computation
5. The f and g Functions
6. Two-Point Boundary Value Problems
7. Applications

Part II

8. Perturbation Theory
9. Special Perturbation Methods
10. Runge-Kutta Methods
11. Types of Perturbations