Scott Walker completed his undergraduate Aerospace degree in 2000 specialising in Aerospace Structures and went on to do his PhD in the Astronautics Research Group at the University of Southampton in the field of small satellite deployable structures. His PhD was awarded in 2004 and he remained at the University as a post doctorate researcher studying structural dynamics and non-linear damping. In 2007 he obtained a lectureship in the Astronautics Research Group at the University of Southampton.
His current areas of research include: satellite deployable structures, multifunctional structures, morphing structures and inflatable structures. He has performed consultancy work for both Surrey Satellite Technology Limited and Astrium UK and regularly gives lectures as part of the University of Southampton’s Spacecraft Systems Engineering course held at ESTEC (ESA).
Rotational dynamics and attitude control of spacecraft
Attitude control is one of the key subsystems for any normal spacecraft mission. However in the context of rendezvous and capture of a non-cooperative target it places significant unpredictable demands on the design of the satellite system. These issues will be presented and discussed over two lectures.
The first lecture, entitled ‘Rotational Dynamics’ will introduce and hopefully reinforce the fundamental concepts of rotational dynamics and how these concepts have been exploited for spacecraft attitude control. The second lecture will build on these fundamental concepts and outline the key implications of these concepts for rendezvous and capture.