Online Course Catalog

AE 498 PDO - Planetary Defense

Spring 2026

TitleSectionCRNTypeHoursTimesDaysLocationInstructor
Planetary DefensePDO57464ONL4 -    Siegfried Eggl

Course Description

This course serves as an introduction to Planetary Defense. Topics covered include near-Earth asteroid origin, composition and dynamics, orbit determination and impact monitoring, technical aspects of various asteroid orbit deflection techniques such as kinetic impact, nuclear deflection, ion beam shepherds, and gravity tractors, as well as a discussion of national and international planetary defense programs including relevant space missions.

Credit Hours

4 hours

Prerequisites

AE 352, AE 402. Recommended: AE 370

Subject Area

  • Aerospace Engineering