To learn more about our solar system, the planets and the basics of space flight, find these excellent resources listed below. Click any of the BLUE headers to visit the external websites.

THE SOLAR SYSTEM

• OUR SOLAR SYSTEM: IN DEPTH (JPL)
  The NASA website is a great resource and they provide a nice introduction to the solar system. I recommend starting with their Solar System page.
• OUR SOLAR SYSTEM: 2013 (JPL)
  Excellent 42 page book from NASA covering the sun, the planets, as well as moons, asteroids and comets in detail. Richly illustrated. Perfect for reading on a mobile device like an iPad or Kindle.
  NOTE: This PDF file is 31.3MB in size.
• THE SOLAR SYSTEM (CORNELL UNIVERSITY)
  Excellent collection of questions about our solar system answered by the Department of Astronomy of Cornell University. Answers are rated from Beginner to Intermediate and Advanced.
• PLANETARY FACT SHEET (NASA)
  Invaluable resource to understand and compare the planets within our solar system. This page lists many of the planetary characteristics (e.g. Mass, Orbital Period, Orbital Eccentricity).

BASICS OF SPACE FLIGHT

• BASICS OF SPACE FLIGHT (JPL)
  Another excellent resource from NASA covering the basics of interplanetary space flight through 18 chapters of richly illustrated material.
• WEB-BASED TRAJECTORY GENERATION TOOL (NASA)
  Awesome Trajectory Generation Tool to plan interplanetary missions.
  NOTE: The certificate of this website is expired.

CELESTIAL MECHANICS

• KEPLERIAN ELEMENTS FOR APPROXIMATE POSITIONS OF THE MAJOR PLANETS (JPL)
  Find here the six orbital elements for the planets in our solar system. They represent a snapshot taken at J2000.0. This is the current standard epoch and represents the Gregorian date January 1, 2000.
• PLANET POSITIONS (ROBERT A. BRAEUNIG)
  Detailed resource on how to actually use the six orbital elements to calculate the location of the planets around the sun.
• HOW TO CALCULATE THE POSITIONS OF THE PLANETS (DAVID COLARUSSO)
  A second website on how to apply the orbital elements which has proved to be helpful.
• DESCRIBING ORBITS (FAA)
  This book chapter explains the six orbital elements well.