From the AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics), word that Charles D. Brown, a man whose books got undergrad-, and graduate-, students through their tough orbital mechanics, spacecraft design, and spacecraft propulsion classes for years. His book, “Spacecraft Mission Design” was about the most common sense approach to teaching one the fundamentals of orbital mechanics from an aerospace engineers viewpoint. Here’s the AIAA’s release:Charles D. Brown, 76, longtime AIAA author, professional development instructor, and associate fellow, died 20 January 2007. Known to the book and professional development staff as Charlie, he was one of our most cherished assets. His teaching inspired his three successful AIAA textbooks and home study courses. Spacecraft Mission Design, Spacecraft Propulsion, and Elements of Spacecraft Design all have been widely adopted for university classroom use.