Category Archives: Space Systems

Education, Space Systems

A Space Technology course in MOOC competition

The MOOC Production Fellowship competition will provide 25000 Euro to each of the ten winning MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) programs out of the 200 that have entered. The winners will be determined by online voting. Anyone may vote for the contestants until May 23rd. The winning courses will be offered for free at the iversity online learning site.

I received a message from Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Berlin, Institute of Technology about their  Space Technology  entry in the competition. The course has no prerequisites “other than a basic understanding of maths”.

The course “Space Technology” covers the fundamentals of space engineering, as well as further related subjects like space law, space politics or management of a space project.

At first, a brief introduction of our solar system and the space environment will give an idea about the destination space. On a trip to space, one has to expect an extremely harsh environment with vacuum, zero-gravity, deadly radiation, micrometeoroids and extreme temperatures. Still, space engineering enables spacecraft and humans to survive under these conditions.

Most of today’s space applications are based on satellites. Therefore, a focus will be set on satellites and their subsystems. Here, subjects like mechanical structures, thermal control, electrical power systems, attitude determination and control, data management and communications will be introduced using a mixture of theory and real mission examples.

One of the most fascinating sectors of space technology is human space flight. A section will be devoted to human spaceflight. In this section several topics like life support systems, astronaut training and space stations will be addressed.

Continue…

This video also describes the course:

Rockets, Science and Technology, Space Systems

Space Studies Institute (SSI) opens Exotic Propulsion Initiative

The Space Studies Institute, whose mission is “to complete the missing technological links to make possible the productive use of the abundant resources in space”. SSI just announced that it is starting a new project with Prof. Jim Woodward of California State University Fullerton: Exotic Propulsion Initiative – Space Studies Institute.

SSI has always prided itself on focusing our resources on projects that work to provide technologies that further the cause of space settlement and permanent life off Earth.  We’ve announced two efforts, the G-Lab and the E-Lab, to provide technologies required for understanding the amount of gravitational force and practical closed life-support systems required for long-term or permanent human habitation in space.

To these projects we have added the Exotic Propulsion Initiative, to explore exotic propulsion opportunities at the very borderlands of physics.

Much public and press excitement has been generated by the DARPA-funded “100 Year Starship” effort, and work on warp drive theory and concepts at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

An intriguing and thoughtful recent book by Professor Jim Woodward, Making Starships and Stargates: The Science of Interstellar Transport and Absurdly Benign Wormholes, has further heightened interest in “exotic” physics propulsion concepts.

While no one can predict if or when these technologies might become practical, we can say for certain that not funding basic research will consign any breakthroughs to the realm of science fiction forever.

Accordingly, SSI has established our Exotic Propulsion Initiative to take bold new risks that are unlikely to find conventional funding.  Donations to the project will be first used to extend and replicate Professor Woodward’s provocative research findings at his lab at CalState Fullerton, and as resources permit, to open new avenues of exploration into advanced propulsion with other scientists.

Professor Woodward has donated major royalties from his book to SSI in order to jump-start this project’s funding.  We are grateful for his donation and are very pleased to be able to offer an opportunity to all interested parties to extend and increase his gift.