Planetary Exploration Class, EE106

EE106: Planetary Exploration

This class investigates the other worlds of our solar system, particularly as revealed by recent space missions. It compares the properties of the terrestrial and Jovian planets, including the differences in their interiors, surfaces, atmospheres, and rings (if any). Also considered are

planetary and satellite orbits,
spacecraft trajectories,
orbital perturbations,

and the properties of

interplanetary gas and dust, asteroids,
comets,
meteorites.

We look into what the planets can tell us about potential terrestrial catastrophies, including

acid rain,
ozone depletion,
nuclear winter,
runaway greenhouse effect,
collision with an asteroid or large comet.

We also study the origin and evolution of planetary systems, and the advantages of remote sensing from spacecraft at radio, infrared, light, and ultraviolet wavelengths. The U.S., Russian, European, and Japanese space programs and their comparative engineering and scientific aspects are discussed.

Prerequisite: One year of college engineering, mathematics, or physics.

3 units, Spring (Fraser-Smith), Monday/Wednesday/Friday 2:15--3:05 pm

Textbook:

Voyages to the Planets, by A. Fraknoi, D. Morrison, and S. Wolff, 3rd Edition, Thomson Learning, 2004.

Course Description:

EE106 was last presented in 2009. A copy of the course description and class schedule for Spring 2008 is available in Adobe portable document format (pdf); there was no significant difference in the course materials for 2009.

EE 106 Course Description (2008).

Web Sites:

There are a number of interesting Web pages that describe our solar system in some detail and which have high quality pictures. For example:

SEDS, or Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS, University of Arizona).
Nine Planets, maintained by Bill Arnett.
Space Flight History
Many Great WebSites
Surveillance-video provides a comprehensive listing of pointers to astronomy-related information.

Sadly, light pollution is increasingly destroying our ability to view the stars and thus provide the inspiration for studying astronomy. On a professional level, it is also marginalizing the observations that can be made by many famous telescopes around the world. For a discussion of this light pollution, see
Light-pollution

[Return to the Fraser-Smith home page.]