Course Description
Human beings have long desired to travel amongst the stars, with the 20th century yielding the first human in space, humans walking on the moon, the operation of a space shuttle and the construction of a massive international space station. Since the year 2000, there has been a nearly continuous presence of humanity in space. These accomplishments are incredible considering that space is an extremely inhospitable environment due to low temperatures and pressure, microgravity, harmful radiation, meteoroids, and debris. This course begins with a discussion of historical and contemporary motivations for establishing a human presence in space. This is followed by an examination of the past, present, and potential future of human space travel. Students learn how both the space environment and the surface environments of other worlds in our solar system affect the human body. The course also explores the various technologies and methods used to mitigate these effects as much as possible. By the end of the course, students will have an understanding of the challenges faced by human space travel, be able to evaluate the plausibility of establishing off-world settlements, be familiar with how space law influences human space travel, and discuss theories for traveling beyond our solar system.