The movement of bodies in space (like spacecraft, satellites, and space stations) must be predicted and controlled with precision in order to ensure safety and efficacy. Kinematics is a field that develops descriptions and predictions of the motion of these bodies in 3D space. This course in Kinematics covers four major topic areas: an introduction to particle kinematics, a deep dive into rigid body kinematics in two parts (starting with classic descriptions of motion using the directional cosine matrix and Euler angles, and concluding with a review of modern descriptors like quaternions and Classical and Modified Rodrigues parameters). The course ends with a look at static attitude determination, using modern algorithms to predict and execute relative orientations of bodies in space.
This course is part of the Spacecraft Dynamics and Control Specialization
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About this Course
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Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Introduction to Kinematics
Rigid Body Kinematics I
Rigid Body Kinematics II
Static Attitude Determination
Reviews
- 5 stars91.24%
- 4 stars7.07%
- 3 stars1.01%
- 2 stars0.67%
TOP REVIEWS FROM KINEMATICS: DESCRIBING THE MOTIONS OF SPACECRAFT
Brilliant classes! Absolutely brilliant, enjoyed every bit of it. All you need is that you should love Physics and Maths to attend these classes. If you do, it is an enriching experience for you.
Lectures are great and professor method of teaching is superb i would highly recommend this course for space enthusiasts
Very good course! Few of the quizzes have the wrong answers marked as correct which can be confusing when learning the material (see the discussion forum for specifics).
if you are an aerospace engineering student and would like to get into orbital mechanics/ control and dynamics of satellites or celestial bodies, it's a decent course (series) to take.
About the Spacecraft Dynamics and Control Specialization

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