Course Websites
AE 498 PDO - Planetary Defense
Last offered Spring 2026
Official Description
Subject offerings of new and developing areas of knowledge in aerospace engineering intended to augment the existing curriculum. See Class Schedule or department course information for topics and prerequisite. Course Information: 1 to 4 undergraduate hours. 1 to 4 graduate hours. May be repeated in the same or separate terms if topics vary to a maximum of 9 undergraduate hours or 12 graduate hours.
Section 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.
Prerequisites AE 352, AE 402. Recommended: AE 370
Restricted to online non-degree, online, MSAE, online MSME, online MSCEE and online MCS students. For more details on this course section, please see http://engineering.illinois.edu/online/courses/. Non-Degree students may enroll on a space-available basis with consent of the Graduate Program Coordinator (ae-grad@illinois.edu).
Related Faculty
Subject Area
- Aerospace Engineering
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
| Title | Section | CRN | Type | Hours | Times | Days | Location | Instructor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Planetary Defense | PDO | 57464 | ONL | 4 | - | Siegfried Eggl |