Anyone studying Aeronautical or Aerospace Engineering?

[Futurestar33]

Good afternoon,
I am just curious about what books you guys use, I am a aspiring physicist with other degrees. I have always had a passion for space and engineering and when I go looking for Aeronautical or Aerospace books I find out that none of them are really math rigorous. Could anyone recommend a good book for building a spaceship or new ways of propulsion?

Thank you

 

[SteamKing]

Good afternoon,
I am just curious about what books you guys use, I am a aspiring physicist with other degrees. I have always had a passion for space and engineering and when I go looking for Aeronautical or Aerospace books I find out that none of them are really math rigorous.

If you want rigor in math, get a math book. Engineering books assume that a person using them has already taken the necessary math and science courses in order to understand how to do the engineering.

Engineering is the application of math to solve a specific set of problems; it is not intended to take the place of learning math.

Could anyone recommend a good book for building a spaceship or new ways of propulsion?

Thank you

Building a spaceship is not something a hobbyist can do. The ones currently being built rely on the talents or many engineers and scientists to launch and operate successfully.

It's also not clear what you mean by "new ways of propulsion"? A warp drive, perhaps?

 

[boneh3ad]

Aerospace engineering itself is not a subject, it's a collection of subjects. If you want any real answers here you will need to be more specific about the subjects that interest you (e.g. compressible aerodynamics, orbital mechanics, strength of materials, etc.).

 

[K41]

Aerodynamics - Anderson - http://www.amazon.com/dp/0071289089/?tag=pfamazon01-20
Turbulence - Lumley - https://www.amazon.com/dp/0262200198/?tag=pfamazon01-20
Thermodynamics - Cengel and Boles - https://www.amazon.com/dp/0072383321/?tag=pfamazon01-20
Structures - Timoshenko - https://www.amazon.com/dp/0070858071/?tag=pfamazon01-20
Optics - Hecht - https://www.amazon.com/dp/0133977226/?tag=pfamazon01-20
Space Design - Larson and Wertz - https://www.amazon.com/dp/1881883108/?tag=pfamazon01-20
Engineering Mathematics - Stroud - http://www.amazon.com/dp/1403942463/?tag=pfamazon01-20
Chaos - Strogatz - https://www.amazon.com/dp/0738204536/?tag=pfamazon01-20

 

[K41]

EDIT (Can't edit original post):

I should also add, those are the books we were recommended during my degree. These aren't necessarily the "best" books, but should give you a general idea beyond which you can find further books of interest to you. The space design book was utilized during a research project, so may have particular interest to you. I think the author, "Wertz" also has a more detailed book somewhere too.

STK software is used for orbital mechanics:
http://www.agi.com/products/stk/

Finally I echo the comments above, aerospace is a interdisciplinary subject with a number of specialist topics brought together.

 

[Futurestar33]

Thank you Very much Djpailo, those books are exactly what I needed.
I am especially interested in the design of the space crafts and why they are still the same.
Therefore books I will be looking at are Chaos, Space Design, Turbulence and Aerodynamics! I am actually taking my optics course this year and I am curious why you mentioned this.
@SteamKing Yes new ways of propulsion like warp drive would be great, but more designing on the spacecraft and being able to make it more dynamic. I know as a physicist that it should have something to do with Modern Physics and Lorentz Transform... ?
Please respond as I would love to talk more about this subject.

Thank you

 

[SteamKing]

Thank you Very much Djpailo, those books are exactly what I needed.
I am especially interested in the design of the space crafts and why they are still the same.

Are you talking about manned spacecraft , satellites, deep space probes, what exactly?

Therefore books I will be looking at are Chaos, Space Design, Turbulence and Aerodynamics! I am actually taking my optics course this year and I am curious why you mentioned this.
@SteamKing Yes new ways of propulsion like warp drive would be great, but more designing on the spacecraft and being able to make it more dynamic. I know as a physicist that it should have something to do with Modern Physics and Lorentz Transform... ?
Please respond as I would love to talk more about this subject.

Thank you

I think you are confusing the current state of real space technology with what's depicted in movies and on TV shows.

The physics used to design rockets and spacecraft has more to do with Newton than Einstein. The speeds at which real spacecraft travel are not even close to relativistic velocities, and things like Lorentz transforms are not needed.

Warp drives and such are still couched firmly in the realm of science fiction. Space propulsion today is solely by means of chemical rockets.

 

[Futurestar33]

No I know the current state of space technology, I haven't done any research in for space. However don't the equations means that they are possible?
I am talking about manned space crafts and deep space probes.

 

[SteamKing]

No I know the current state of space technology, I haven't done any research in for space. However don't the equations means that they are possible?

I'm not current on which equations these might be. What's possible and what is are two different things.

Even though Maxwell showed theoretically in the 1860s that electromagnetic waves could propagate through space, it was quite a while before technology reached the point where radio and television could be invented.

I am talking about manned space crafts and deep space probes.

As far as manned spacecraft design is concerned, this form of travel is still very expensive, and only the US, Russia, and the Chinese have designed and built spacecraft capable of manned flight.

The Chinese are the new kids, having sent their first astronauts into orbit in 2003:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_space_program

The US currently has no certified manned vehicles operating, but the Orion spacecraft , which resembles the old Apollo capsules, but bigger, is currently undergoing unmanned test flights.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_( spacecraft )

The Russians are still using Soviet-designed Soyuz spacecraft , which first flew in late 1966 in an unmanned test.