Fall 2026

Satellite Dynamics

EMA 642 covers satellite dynamics, including torque-free motion, stability, gyroscopic instruments, and various satellite stabilization techniques.

offering recorded3 credits

Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Mike Sracic

Summary

1 / 6

Historical reviews of Daniel Kammer: Reviewers report spending 20-30 hours weekly, noting exams were not relevant to homework despite high homework averages.

Grade history

↗

average GPA
letter grades

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

E M A 442(or E M A 542 prior to Fall 2026),PHYSICS 311, graduate/professional standing, or member of Engineering Guest Students

- EMA 442
- PHYSICS 311
- - graduate/professional standing
  - member of Engineering Guest Students
  - E M A 542 prior to Fall 2026
  take one
take all

EMA 642

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

All of
- EMA 442
- PHYSICS 311
- Any of
  - graduate/professional standing
  - member of Engineering Guest Students
  - E M A 542 prior to Fall 2026

Professors

Fall 2026

Mike Sracic

No course-specific feedback yet.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Mike Sracic is the current instructor for EMA 642. Historical reviews for Daniel Kammer describe a highly demanding course with strict, uncurved grading and exams that diverge from homework assignments.

DANIEL KAMMER is recorded teaching in Spring 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Spring 2010, Spring 2011, Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2017. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Fall 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

Section	Mode	Enrolled / capacity	Waitlist
LEC 001	Classroom Instruction	12 / 30	0

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records

Download part 1

Student experience

the class

Historical reviews for Daniel Kammer describe a difficult course with strict grading and unhelpful instruction, requiring significant weekly time investment.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2023: 3.50 GPA, 62.5% A/AB (n=8 letter grades); Spring 2024: 3.50 GPA, 71.4% A/AB (n=7 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.45 GPA, 63.6% A/AB (n=11 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Historical reviews of Daniel Kammer: Reviewers report spending 20-30 hours weekly, noting exams were not relevant to homework despite high homework averages.

Historical reviews of Daniel Kammer: Students found the instructor condescending and unhelpful, citing a strict, uncurved grading scale that made exam performance critical.

Topics

Torque-free motion and stability of rotation
Gyroscopic instruments and Earth gyrodynamics
Gravity gradient, spin, dual spin, and tethered satellites
Mass movement techniques and rocket dynamics

Skills

Analysis of satellite stability, torque-free motion, and gyroscopic dynamics.

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2025— not enough history to project Fall 2026.

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

Grades over time

Through Spring 2025

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Not enough comparable courses for Fall 2026 in UW–Madison.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

Download part 1

Selected offering source records

EMA 642 · Fall 2026

Satellite Dynamics

Recorded 2026-09-07

Raw records

[
  {
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "semester": "1272",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1272:346:006637",
    "course_id": "EMA 642",
    "course_uid": "course_5bae352b03160c4e167e9397",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "006637",
    "source_subject_id": "346",
    "title": "Satellite Dynamics",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Spring"
  }
]

Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews

Download part 1

Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades

Model outputs & technical records

nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4

LLM outputs across runs

Download part 1

Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1

Model & dataset provenance

{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "23bf56993c08948ba0c9f14748768e4f7c082376d342f7aeb2198f86d3bd7073",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}