A.i.r.s.i.c.k.

Advised Introduction to Rocket Science (Including Crashes) for Kerbals

A website/booklet inspired by covering the basics of spaceflight and orbital mechanics. The material is freely available, but you can make a payment to support the project.

Illustration by MK01, also known as Riess

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Introduction: A short introduction describing the document.
Basics: A few notations and concepts from mathematics and physics that can be useful to understand the formulas from next chapters.
Mechanics: How stuff moves, and how we try to efficiently predict its position at some point in the future.
Orbits: How orbits work, how they can be described with a few numbers, and how we can use them to predict a trajectory.
Launch: How a spacecraft can lift from the ground all the way up to its first stable orbit.
Maneuvers: How a spacecraft can change its trajectory, and how much such a maneuver would cost.
Operating: Some practical matters to take into considerations when planing missions for orbiters or landers.

Chapter banners by Lunniy Korabl