Space Science

Students enrolled in this Certificate Program will study the challenges of addressing evolutionary systems for multigenerational success in space settlements.

This program takes an interdisciplinary approach to examine the balance of dynamic processes to enable life to flourish in space, focusing on expansion of life support systems, influence of climates and weather conditions, and preservation of resources for generations to follow. Students will gain an understanding about the effects of gravity, interrelationships between celestial bodies, climate cycles, and the impact of human activities on a universal scale.

Space Science

Choose any three of the courses listed below and one three-credit elective from any certificate program.

STL 500: Human Factors and Adaptation (3 credits)

This course will help students understand the impact of human factors in space on crewed missions, to collect and interpret relevant human factors data, and to provide continuous operational support in long-duration spaceflight and space settlements. Students will assess the participation of humans in space exploration, evaluate adaptation techniques and the abilities to perform physically and psychologically for extended periods in diverse geographic regions with unique gravitation and radiation characteristics.

STL 501: Biosystems and Weather (3 credits)

This course introduces fundamental biosystems principles and concepts, emphasizing organisms and their environments. Students will examine physical, chemical and biological properties of ecosystems necessary to sustain life. Topics include: climate cycles; weather conditions; Earth’s atmosphere; thermal radiation; pressure; photosynthesis; effects of the stars, moons and other celestial objects; Coriolis forces; greenhouse gases; and other human influences.

STL 502: Resource Conservation Practices (3 credits)

This course focuses on conservation principles of resource management for sustainable space settlement. Students will consider characteristics of natural resources and processes through which they are developed and utilized; emerging technologies to convert waste for useful purposes; energy conversion strategies; soil and water conservation; methods and techniques for reduction, recycling and reusing biomass, waste and other hazards.

STL 503: Independent Study – Space Sciences (3 credits)

Independent study courses are student initiated projects, open to Kepler Space Institute students, which allow students to work one-on-one with a faculty member. The student and supervising faculty member will develop a learning plan for the semester within the first week of term. Enrollment is limited.