Guidance and Control

Making things go where you want them to go.

How to steer a rocket

From MadScientist a discussion of guidance systems.

Apogee Rockets has a page with some good links to guidance information. Their site is aimed at model rocketry.

Guidance information at About.com

NASA's information on guidance.

From Sven Knudson's site a few questions and answers on guidance.

You can help keep aRocket up and running by ordering Amazon books from our links. We appreciate your support.

Introduction to Aircraft Flight Mechanics: Performance, Static Stability, Dynamic Stability, and Classical Feedback Control (Aiaa Education Series.)
by Thomas R. Yechout, Steven L. Morris, David E. Bossert, Wayne F. Hallgren
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics; May 2003
ISBN: 1563475774

Spacecraft Dynamics and Control
by Marcel J. Sidi (Author)
Cambridge Univ Pr (Pap Txt); Reprint edition August 2000
ISBN: 0521787807

Spacecraft Dynamics and Control
by Marcel J. Sidi (Author)
Cambridge Univ Pr (Pap Txt); Reprint edition (August 2000)
ISBN: 0521787807

Dynamics and Control of Structures in Space III
by C. L. Kirk, D. J. Inman, T. K. Murthy
Computational Mechanics; June 1996
ISBN: 185312415X

Flight Instruments and Automatic Flight Control Systems
by David Harris
Blackwell Science Inc; 6th edition December 2003
ISBN: 0632059516

Introduction to Avionics Systems, Second Edition
by R. P. G. Collinson
Kluwer Academic Publishers; 2nd edition December 2002
ISBN: 1402072783

Mission Geometry: Orbit and Constellation Design and Management (Space Technology Library)
by James R Wertz
Microcosm, Inc; December 4, 2001
ISBN: 1881883078

Modern Spacecraft Dynamics and Control
by Marshall H. Kaplan
John Wiley & Sons; October 1, 1976
ISBN: 0471457035

Quaternions and Rotation Sequences: A Primer With Applications to Orbits, Aerospace, and Virtual Reality
by Jack B. Kuipers
Princeton Univ Pr; Reprint edition August 2002
ISBN: 0691102988

Theory of Satellite Geodesy : Applications of Satellites to Geodesy
by William M. Kaula
Dover Pubns; Reprint edition November 2000
ISBN: 0486414655

Airborne Vehicle Guidance and Control Systems
by George M. Siouris
Springer Verlag; October 2003
ISBN: 0387007261

Fault Diagnosis and Reconfiguration in Flight Control Systems
by Chingiz Hajiyev, Fikret Caliskan
Kluwer Academic Publishers; October 2003
ISBN: 1402076053

Flight Stability and Automatic Control
by Dr. Robert C. Nelson
McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math; 2nd edition October 1, 1997
ISBN: 0070462739

Guidance and Control 2002
by Robert D. Culp, Steven D. Jolly
Amer Astronautical Society; November 2002
ISBN: 0877034923

Spaceflight Dynamics
by William E. Wiesel, William E. Weisel
McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math; 2nd edition August 1, 1996
ISBN: 0070701105

Robust Flight Control: Several Aeronautical Applications
by Samir Bennani
Delft Univ Pr; July 2002
ISBN: 904072279X

Spacecraft Attitude Determination and Control (Astrophysics and Space Science Library)
by James R. Wertz (Editor)
Kluwer Academic Publishers; January 2003
ISBN: 9027712042

Dynamics of Flight: Stability and Control
by Bernard Etkin, Lloyd Duff Reid
John Wiley & Sons; 3rd edition October 1995
ISBN: 0471034185

Automatic Control of Aircraft and Missiles
by John H. Blakelock
Interscience; 2nd edition (April 1991)
ISBN: 0471506516

Modeling and Simulation of Aerospace Vehicle Dynamics (Aiaa Education Series)
by Peter H. Zipfel
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics; January 1, 2001
ISBN: 1563474565

Aircraft Control and Simulation
by Brian L. Stevens, Frank L. Lewis
Wiley-Interscience; 2nd edition (September 2003)
ISBN: 0471371459

Tactical and Strategic Missile Guidance, Fourth Edition
by Paul Zarchan
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics; 4th edition December 2002
ISBN: 1563474972

Rocket Exhaust Plume Phenomenology
by Frederick S. Simmons
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics; October 2000
ISBN: 188498908X

Modern Navigation, Guidance, And Control Processing
by Chin-Fang Lin, Ching-Fang Lin
Pearson Education POD; 1st edition August 16, 1996
ISBN: 0135962307

Global Positioning Systems, Inertial Navigation, and Integration
by Mohinder S. Grewal, Lawrence R. Weill, Angus P. Andrews
Wiley-Interscience; Book and Disk edition December 2000
ISBN: 047135032X

Fundamentals of High Accuracy Inertial Navigation
by Averil B. Chatfield
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics; September 1, 1997
ISBN: 1563472430

Strapdown Inertial Navigation Technology (IEE Radar, Sonar, Navigation and Avionics, No 5)
by D. H. Titterton, J. L. Weston
Peter Peregrinus Ltd; May 1, 1997
ISBN: 0863412602

Modern Inertial Technology: Navigation, Guidance, and Control (Mechanical Engineering Series)
by Anthony Lawrence
Springer Verlag; 2nd edition December 1998
ISBN: 0387985077

Applied Mathematics in Integrated Navigation Systems (Aiaa Education Series)
by Robert M. Rogers
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics; October 2003
ISBN: 156347445X

Avionics Navigation Systems
by Myron Kayton, Walter R. Fried
Interscience; 2nd edition (April 1997
ISBN: 0471547956

Digital Avionics Systems: Principles and Practice
by Cary R. Spitzer
The Blackburn Press; 2nd, Reprinted edition October 1, 2000
ISBN: 1930665121

Automatic Control Systems
by Benjamin C. Kuo, Farid Golnaraghi
John Wiley & Sons; 8th edition September 2002
ISBN: 0471134767

Schaum's Outline of Feedback and Control Systems (Schaum's)
by Allen R. Stubberud, Ivan J. Williams, Joseph J., III DiStefano
McGraw-Hill Trade; 2nd edition October 1, 1994
ISBN: 0070170525

Modern Control Engineering
by Katsuhiko Ogata
Pearson Higher Education; November 2001
ISBN: 0130432458 (pb)
Prentice Hall; 4th edition November 2001
ISBN: 0130609072 (hb)

Control Systems Engineering
by Norman S. Nise
John Wiley & Sons; 4th edition August 2003
ISBN: 0471445770
And to go with this book:
Control Systems Engineering , JustAsk! Control Solutions Companion
by Norman S. Nise
John Wiley & Sons; 4th edition September 2003
ISBN: 0471483885

Digital Control Dynamic System
by Gene F. Franklin, Michael L. Workman, J. David Powell
Addison-Wesley Pub Co; 3rd edition (December 1997) ISBN: 0201820544

The Art of Electronics
by Paul Horowitz
Cambridge University Press; 2nd edition 1989
ISBN: 0521370957

Power System Modeling Analysis and Control
by A. P. Melipoulos
Marcel Dekker; April 2004
ISBN: 0824797345 (Not yet released, you can pre-order to reserve your copy)

Flight Instruments and Automatic Flight Control Systems
by David Harris
Blackwell Science Inc; 6th edition December 2003
ISBN: 0632059516 (Not yet released, you may pre-order to reserve your copy)

Fully Tuned Radial Basis Function Neural Networks for Flight
by N. Sundararajan, P. Saratchandran, Yan Li, Yan Li
Kluwer Academic Publishers; October 1, 2001
ISBN: 0792375181

Flight Control Systems (Progress in Astronautics and Aeronautics, Vol 184)
by Roger W. Pratt
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics; December 2000
ISBN: 1563474042

Flight Control Systems: Practical Issues in Design and Implementation
by Roger W. Pratt
IEE Publishing; March 3, 2000
ISBN: 0852967667