CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE SPACE DYNAMICS STUDIES OF PROFESSOR M. M. NITA

摘要

Professor M. M. Nita was the dean of the Aerospace Engineering Faculty in University "Politehnica" of Bucharest. He taught courses of aircraft mechanics, rocket flight and space dynamics. Throughout his career he became the author of many scientific papers and books, one of the most important ones being "Teoria zborului spatial" (Theory of space flight), published by the Romanian Academy Publishing House, Bucharest, in 1973, where the professor describes general problems of space dynamics, but also presents personal research regarding the possibility of a stationary orbital vehicle at an arbitrary latitude. He studied the possibility of achieving stationary positions outside the equatorial plane, using a small traction rocket engine, the stability of the stationary positions, the perturbations due to the asymmetry and nonhomogeneity of the terrestrial globe and the influence of the solar and moon attractions. The obtained results were presented at the International Congresses of Astronautics in Varna in 1962, Paris in 1963, Belgrade in 1967, as well as in numerous scientific journals. In 1988 professor M. M. Nita was elected as a full member of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA). The professor coordinated with full dedication the scientific work of many young engineers. Regretfully, in 2018 professor M. M. Nita would have been 90 years old.