If you just want to extend your pop science knowledge, going for a degree and even most OCW courses would be overkill. I went through a bachelor's and master's

If you just want to extend your pop science knowledge, going for a degree and even most OCW courses would be overkill. I went through a bachelor's and master's in aerospace engineering, and they are not to be taken lightly; 24% of engineering students dropped out after freshman year at my university. The only book I recommend for you is Fundamentals of Astrodynamics (BMW); it's an approachable introduction orbit design/analysis that you should be able to take on knowing calculus through differential equations.