Pathway to Space

University of Colorado Boulder via Coursera Specialization

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Provider

Coursera Specialization
Pricing

Paid Course
Languages

English
Certificate

Certificate Available
Duration & workload

16 weeks, 5 hours a week

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Overview

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Space, the final frontier. Many of us have heard this phrase in our lives but how many of us believed we could actually explore that frontier? Regardless of your major or area of expertise, if you are interested in being a part of space, the Pathway to Space specialization is for you. Our species has only scratched the surface of understanding the cosmos. To further our knowledge of the universe requires the skills and talents of all people. Enter this specialization saying, “I like space…” and exit it saying, “I better understand space and have an idea of the path I can take to be a part of its exploration.” Our journey together begins with Course 1: Our Place in the Cosmos where we cover how our species’s wonder about space led to our current understanding of the cosmos and tools used to gain that knowledge. Course 2: Getting There and Going Beyond covers what defines space and the ways we explore our solar system and beyond. Course 3: The Business, Politics, Policy, and Players of Space Programs explores the components, mechanisms, and people that bring space missions into reality. Course 4: Space is Everywhere explores how art, music, books, comics, movies, and more are influenced by our wonder and love for the cosmos. This specialization is taught in a fun and engaging way from the bridge of my spaceship studio, the “USS Pathway”, and is unlike any other course you’ve ever taken. So sign up, step on board the ship, and together we’ll discover your Pathway to Space.

Syllabus

Course 1: Our Place in the Cosmos
Course 2: Getting There and Going Beyond
Course 3: The Business, Politics, Policy, & Players of Space Programs
Course 4: Space is Everywhere

Courses

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21 hours 19 minutes
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You are here! Welcome to Course 4 - Space is Everywhere and the last course of this specialization. You are on the final stretch of this journey to finding your Pathway to Space. The topics of Course 4 span four weeks and nine lessons with 36 learning objectives. This course contains some of my most favorite aha moments in the the entire specialization. I hope that you find them and that they impact you in a positive way. We will discuss how space is communicated through news, art, movies, books, music and more. Space is everywhere in our lives and therefore everyone can be involved in it. So keep up the pace. You can do this. Your reward awaits you, finding your pathway to space. Week 1 - We will start with Space in Journalism with Paul Daugherty where Paul and I will discuss the importance of communicating science and space matters in an engaging and accurate way. Space and Music, with Dr. Jay Keister, explores role music has had and continues to have in our perceptions of space. Both lessons are eye and ear opening. Week 2 - This week includes two special discussions centered around art. To bring the wonder of space and the science we do to everyone is best done through art. In the Art of Space, Erin Espelie and I discuss the significance of art as effective tool to inspire those interested in space to pursue and/or question it further. Erin is filmmaker and created a film just for this course. Joby Harris and I discuss the significance of Visualizing Space Exploration in his lesson. Joby uses many tools to bring a space mission to life well before it has even been funded. He explains his process and demonstrates some of his creativity in a interesting demonstration. Week 3 - In this time of history, movies and tv shows play a large role in the visual entertainment of humans and some animals. However before this medium, writings played that role. In this week's lesson we discuss both. With Scott Millspaugh's lesson on Space Through the Ages, we discuss how space and it's influence on society was captured and communicated over great periods of time. And how some of these beliefs lasted over a thousand years. In Space and Movies, Dr. Ernesto Acevedo Muñoz and I discuss the movie that changed everything when it comes to space as well as those before and after. Week 4 - The last week of lessons. I purposely put them at the end as I feel they are a fitting way to end to this specialization. In Science Fiction, Dr. William Kuskin and I revisit the concept of Space and Wonder and its influence on our imagination. How the power of imagination generates hope for all that wield it. In One Pathway to Space, I walk you through a journey in rocket history and connect that history to one book that shaped humanity's future in space. And last but not least, we end the course and this specialization with one final goodbye to the crew and the USS Pathway to Space. In addition, I have arranged for a very special VIP transporter. It is truly the end but it is also just the beginning. Enjoy!
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20 hours 9 minutes
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Come aboard! If you decide to take this course, you will expand your horizon of what is possible for you in the cosmos. In Course 1 (Our Place in the Cosmos) of this four course specialization, there are 39 learning objectives spread out over 4 weeks and 10 lessons. Week 1 - You will learn about the course and the specialization as a whole as well as the method used to guide you through the material. You will also get to meet the crew of the USS Pathway to Space. As your instructor and captain, I will create a unique and hopefully fun learning environment full of surprises and moments of connection with the material. We will also discuss how wonder started it all with our first guest, Dr. Valerio Ferme with Space and Wonder. Week 2 - We have two topics and two guests this week. In A Tour of the Cosmos, with Dr. Erica Ellingson, we will guide you through all the grandeur of the cosmos from the size and scale to the timeline of its existence. In Astrophysics, with Dr. Kevin France, we will explore concept and merger of two great fields of study: Astronomy and Physics. The tools used by an astrophysicists are key to unlocking the cosmos. At the end of this week, you will have a better understanding of the cosmos and your place in it. Week 3 - Space exploration can happen in two ways. By viewing there and going there. This week we will explore both methods. Our first lesson is with Dr. Paul Hayne and Dr. Carolyn Crow on Space Exploration-Going There. We will look at the stages of exploration and how the science changes at each point. Next, we will meet Dr. Kristy Tiampo as we discuss Space Exploration-Viewing There. We will dive deep into remote sensing work around Earth and how that technique of viewing can be applied throughout the cosmos. Week 4 - This week, we will discuss some of the great science being conducted in the cosmos as well as our species search life elsewhere in the universe. We have three lessons this week. The first two are in two parts. Extending Science Beyond Earth. In Part 1, we meet Dr. Nick Schneider and discuss how the different wavelengths of light have allowed us to understand other planets like Mars but also Earth. In Part 2, we meet Dr. Dave Brain and discuss what we have learned about other planets in our solar system and compare those discoveries with our home planet. We will end with the Search for Life Elsewhere where our guest, Dr. Bruce Jakosky, and I discuss what is needed for life in the cosmos and where we might find it. In these lessons, you will become a member of the crew of the USS Pathway to Space and together we will make the unknown, known. Your journey to discovering your pathway to space begins now.
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19 hours 58 minutes
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Welcome Course 3 - The Business, Politics, Policy, & Players of Space Programs. If you are here, you have successfully completed both Course 1 and 2 of this specialization. Course 3 has nine lessons spread out over 4 weeks with 31 Learning Objectives. In this course, we will discover who and what funds the exploration that we have enjoyed learning about in Course 1 and 2. We will also focus on a few specific applications of some of the concepts we have learned about so far with two companies, the Global Positioning System, and the an academic program that could be implemented at your institution of higher learning. Week 1 - There are three lessons this week that will cover a range of topics that greatly influence where space exploration has been, is today, and will go. The Politics of Space, with Jack Waldorf and Abby Benson will provide a basic overview of how space missions are funded in the US government. Space Governance with Dr. Zach Donohew and Eric Alston, JD will present the case and justification for how we as species will need to govern what we do in space. The Business of Space with Dr. Dan Baker, will cover the basics of the space industry from the size to the value of doing business in space. These topics will build on many of the others we have covered in the other courses and in the lessons ahead. Week 2 - This week's topic is Space Entrepreneurship and it is broken it into two parts. Both parts involve real-world space entrepreneurs. Part 1 is with Dr. James Stuart who has started many space companies and continues to work with other entrepreneurs as they push the boundary of what we do in space. Part 2 is with Scott Tibbitts, who has a very unique background and path to being a space entrepreneur but that did not stop him and his company from enabling NASA to explore Mars. These lessons will give you a new perspective on the impact entrepreneurs have in space exploration. Week 3 and Week 4 are application lessons where we take a deep dive into a few of the many examples where space is used in our daily lives and how companies and academic programs are helping to bring access to space to everyone. The Global Positioning System (GPS), with Dr. Penny Axelrad, is so ingrained in our daily lives that we may not even realize we are using it. We will discuss how it came to be and how it will be used for years to come. David Ferguson and I will discuss SpaceX's Starship and Starlink programs and how one company is changing our vision for how we explore and use space. The Access to Space for All with Sierra Space, with Dr. Janet Kavandi, covers how one company, that many may not have heard of, has big plans for science and tourism in space. Dr. Kavandi also has some interesting space experience! The last lesson of this course covers an academic program at the University of Colorado Boulder call the Space Minor. Ashleigh Bailey and I discuss this unique program that allows students of all majors to minor in space. This program is a model of other institutions of higher education around the world. So please consider enrolling and then let's hit the trail.
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1 day 2 hours 25 minutes
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Welcome to Course 2 - Getting There and Going Beyond. If you are here, you have successfully completed Course 1 (Our Place in the Cosmos) and are ready for more. There is so much more to learn in Course 2 with 40 learning objectives spread out over 5 weeks and 12 lessons. We will cover all the ways we explore space and near space from planes to rockets to satellites and humans. Week 1 - We will hit the trail with two lessons on Aeronautics. "Why is a aeronautics in a course about space?" you might be asking yourself. Well aeronautics is used in many aspects of space exploration. It is also how we first started our exploration by getting off the ground. Part 1 connects us with Dr. Brian Argrow, who provides the context and background of aeronautics. Part 2 brings Dr. Gijs de Boer's perspective on the applications and connections with aeronautics and remote sensing. Week 2 - This week will have three lessons that build upon last week's discussion on aeronautics. In Near Space, Dr. Tom Woods and I will explore the science that can be conducted in the Earth's atmosphere at the fringes of space. Mr. Dave Murrow and I will discuss Launch Vehicles and how everything we do in space is dependent on getting through near space and into space on a rocket. And finally, we will discover Orbits with Dr. Steve Nerem. Everything in the cosmos is in motion and that motion can be described by orbits. Getting to space is one thing. Getting around the solar system and beyond is all about orbits. Week 3 - Spacecraft and satellites. So much of what we know about the cosmos was discovered by one of these two vehicles. While they may seem complicated, much of what goes into designing, building, testing, and flying a spacecraft is understandable by everyone. Spacecraft Systems is broken up into three parts. Part 1, we will discuss, the mission design process and systems engineering approach with three guests. David Ferguson, JB Young, and Dr. Nick Bradley. Part 2 will focus on the power, structures, and thermal subsystems as well as mission operations with our guests: Paul Anderson, Kamron Medina, Bruce Davis, Emily Brisnehan, and Kathy Schimmels. And finally Part 3, where we will explore the propulsion and computer subsystems and the methods for testing all the spacecraft systems with Dr. Jeff Ganley, Dr. Lee Jasper, Dr. Adam Pender, Jesse Austin, and Kyle Kemble. Week 4 - This week (and next) we shift focus from space exploration with spacecraft to space exploration with humans. Astronauts have played a vital role in the exploration of the cosmos and have advantages over robotic mission in certain areas. Human Exploration is broken into four parts. In this week, we will cover parts 1 and 2. In Part 1, Dr. Allie Anderson sets the stage for what it takes to have a human in space. In Part 2, we will talk with Astronaut Jim Voss and discuss what it was like to be in space on his five trips there. Week 5 - We will continue our lessons on Human Exploration from Week 4 with two more parts. Part 3 will be with Astronaut Joe Tanner and Part 4 will be Astronaut Rick Hieb. Both will add their perspectives to what it is like to be in space as a human and comment on where humanity should explore next. For those of you counting, that is three astronauts in one course. Pretty awesome huh? So please consider enrolling in course 2 and together we will continue to pull back the curtain on the cosmos together making the unknown, known. Let's continue our journey together in finding your pathway to space.