Aerospace Engineering

John E. Prussing

Professor Emeritus

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Office address	Mailing Address	Research Group
306C Talbot Lab 217-333-8231	306 Talbot Lab 104 S. Wright St. Urbana, IL 61801
Research Areas
Prof. Prussing's primary research areas are orbital mechanics and optimal spacecraft trajectories.

View more information about Professor Prussing Dr. Prussing is Professor Emeritus of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, first joining the faculty in 1969. He has been thesis advisor for 33 MS students and 11 PhD students and has published over 50 technical articles in 13 refereed archival journals. References to these articles appear in 55 journals in English and in journals in Russian, Chinese, French, and Portuguese.

He is co-author (with Bruce A. Conway) of the popular textbook Orbital Mechanics, published by Oxford University Press and used at various universities in the US and Canada. His professional service has included Associate Editor of the Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Chair of the Astrodynamics Technical Committee of the AIAA, Member of the Space Flight Mechanics Committee of the American Astronautical Society (AAS), and Technical Chair of several AIAA/AAS astrodynamics conferences.

Education:

ScD in Instrumentation, MIT 1967
SM in Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT 1963
SB in Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT 1963

Academic Positions:

Assistant Research Engineer and Lecturer, University of California, San Diego, CA, 1967-69
Lecturer, University of California Extension, 1969
Assistant Professor, Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering, University of Illinois, 1969-72
Associate Professor, Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering, University of Illinois, 1972-81
Assistant Dean, College of Engineering (50%), University of Illinois, 1976-77
Professor, Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering, University of Illinois, 1981-2003
Professor, Aerospace Engineering, University of Illinois, 2003-2007
Professor Emeritus, Aerospace Engineering, 2007–present

Major Honors and Awards:

AIAA Fellow
AAS Fellow
Mechanics and Control of Flight Award, AIAA
Dirk Brouwer Award, AAS
Campus Finalist, UIUC Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, 1982 and 1983
Named on An Incomplete List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students 20 times, most recently for Spring 2007.
AAE Department Teacher of the Year 1975, 1979, 1984, 1991, 2007

Selected Publications:

Orbital Mechanics by John E. Prussing and Bruce A. Conway, Oxford University Press, 1993
Jo, J-W., and Prussing J.E. "A Procedure for Applying Second-Order Conditions in Optimal Control Problems", Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, Vol. 23, No. 2, Mar-Apr 2000, pp. 241-250.
Prussing, J.E., "A Class of Optimal Two-Impulse Rendezvous Using Multiple-Revolution Lambert Solutions", The Journal of the Astronautical Sciences., Vol. 48, No. 2 and 3, Apr-Sep 2000, pp. 131-148.
Coverstone, V. L., and Prussing, J.E., "Technique for Escape from Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit Using a Solar Sail", Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, Vol. 26, No. 4, pp. 628-634, Jul-Aug 2003.
Prussing, J.E., and Sandrik, S.L., "Second-Order Necessary Conditions and Sufficient Conditions Applied to Continuous-Thrust Trajectories," Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, Vol. 28, No. 4, Jul-Aug 2005, pp. 812-816.