The Center for Planetary Atmospheric and Flight Sciences at the National Institute of Aerospace offers a robust series of coursework in atmospheric flight, including atmospheric characterization, aerobraking, and EDL; space flight mechanics, including orbit and trajectory analysis, and spacecraft dynamics and control; and more.
Students in the Center work with aerobraking data from the Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey, and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter missions. In recent history, Tolson’s students performed atmospheric flight mechanics studies for the Mars Science Laboratory, the Phoenix Mission, as well as for the Crew Exploration Vehicle and Constellation Launch Abort Vehicle.