From ShortHike

Consider this the page of recommended reading for anyone serious about studying space stations. Careful, you might learn a thing or two and start seeing ShortHike as less of a game and more as reality.

Astrodynamics

Astrodynamics is the study of the motion of objects in space. This is essential for knowing how things like satellites and stations orbit larger things like moons and planets. A more thorough study of the subject will reveal the workings of Lagrange point orbits, pertubations, synchronicity, spin-orbit coupling, tides, and ring systems.

• Solar System Dynamics by C.D. Murray and S.F. Dermott. Amazon link (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0521575974/qid=1119390827/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i2_xgl14/102-5464844-6844964?v=glance&s=books&n=507846). Published 1999.
  

This is probably best described as an advanced undergraduate to early graduate text. It requires knowledge of vector calculus, and a basic understanding of mathematical mechanics would prove useful. While it includes the two-body problem, it moves on to the restricted three-body problem by page 63, and from page 130 on moves on to subjects that are probably of more interest to an astrophysicist than to an astronautical navigator. However, it is one of the more recent books published and so includes things that weren't understood all that well a few decades ago (like chaos), plus its language isn't as musty as some more classical texts on the subject.

• Fundamentals of Astrodynamics by Roger R. Bate. Amazon link (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0486600610/ref=wl_it_dp/102-5464844-6844964?%5Fencoding=UTF8&coliid=I3T7N73CVC13LW&v=glance&colid=2G9MH4TCKV68J). Published 1971.
  

A Dover book. Thoroughly an undergraduate text, it only sticks to Newtonian methods and doesn't get into the more advanced topics that Solar System Dynamics covers. However, it's very handy for what it does discuss, and should give those who read it thoroughly a good foundation for understanding the orbits of satellites. Don't be scared off by its age, either; the mathematics involved haven't changed any, so it's just as relevant as newer texts, although some of the language might be a tad archaic.

Encyclopedias

These books provide a little bit of information on a lot of things. Good for overviews, but not for in-depth reading.

• Jane's Space Directory by David Baker (ed.). Amazon link (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0710624484/qid=1119573699/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-5464844-6844964). Published annualy.

A big, expensive book that tries to compile information on every space program that ever was or is in existence. Organized by country, you can find out a lot about satellites and stations you've probably never even heard of. Don't expect a lot of detail, though. You might pull a few stats from this text, but if you want to know a lot about a specific project (like the Space Shuttle, Mir, or the ISS), you're better off finding a book dedicated to that nation's space program or that project specifically. With the current trend towards the privatization of space (SpaceShip One, Cosmos 1, etc.), it remains to be seen how this book will handle projects not belonging to any national program. If you do decide to get this book, you might do yourself a favor and buy an edition that's a couple years old to save a few hundred dollars, unless of course what you're most interested in happened within the past couple of years.