Some aspects of astronautics

This paper is mainly concerned with four general topics of importance in astronautics: 1) Basic laws of celestial mechanics. The subjects covered are: Kepler's laws and their Newtonian redevelopment, the orbital elements, and perturbations. 2) Lunar and interplanetary flights. A typical earth-moon transit trajectory, computed by automatic machine, is discussed. Guidance accuracies required for lunar impact are illustrated. Circumlunar flights, lunar satellites, and interplanetary flights are also briefly discussed. 3) The space environment. Among the subjects covered are: the distribution and characteristics of dust and meteoric material in the solar system; asteroids; comets; molecular, atomic, and subatomic particles in space; the possible lunar atmosphere and ionosphere; extraterrestrial radio noise; and the magnetic fields of the earth and sun. 4) Scientific experimentation in space. Useful subjects for experimentation are: refinement of our knowledge of basic constants such as the value of the astronomical unit; observation of the atmospheric and surface conditions of the moon and of our neighbor planets; increased observation of matter and radiation in space.