Roshan Radhakrishnan

I know, I just went through almost all of October without a single plot or update. I wish that wasn’t the case because I have actually learned some pretty cool stuff (I can now make some sweet 3D orbital trajectory plots), but the semester has been brutal and I haven’t had time to make a good contribution on here. Yes, that is a lame excuse. How could I be so busy with school astrodynamics to ignore this astrodynamics? Fantastic question.

Whats worse, I haven’t had a chance to even look at my dynamics simulator, much less validate my reaction wheel implementation. On the plus side, I have some ideas about coupling my attitude dynamics with orbital dynamics, which could prove to be useful. It seems like drag and gravity gradient would be the main factors coupling attitude and orbit; a drag model would be an interesting challenge. Perhaps if I can find a good MSIS function on the MATLAB file exchange or something. I look forward to having time to explore this stuff.

Even though the semester has been busy, I did find a few hours to see The Martian, and what a ride it was. As a fan of the book, I thought it was a fantastic adaption. Scott and Damon did an excellent job of capturing why we care about exploring the unknown and how space exploration really is something bigger than any one of us. However, I did have some issues with the casting. It would have been nice to see an Indian American like Weir’s Venkat Kapoor, who is not a caricature the way pretty much every other Indian male in American media is, in a serious, scientific role on the big screen. It would also have been nice for all of the Indian Americans in the space industry and academia to finally get some representation and respect on the big screen. But you can only expect so much from Hollywood.

As if The Martian wasn’t enough space-y goodness, however, there was also a new Star Wars trailer last night. Like many aerospace engineers, I loved Star Wars as a kid, and was completely captivated by the endless universe and lore associated with a galactic civilization. The new trailer looked fantastic, and I can’t wait for The Force Awakens.

I’m hoping I can get a 3D orbital trajectory plot posted on here before October ends. If not, it should be up early November. Simulation upgrades most likely won’t happen until December. I will try to keep posting interesting plots from astrodynamics though, and at the bare minimum talk about policy news that I come across. Until then, may the Force be with you.