AA 121Q: It IS Rocket Science!

This seminar is expected to be in high demand. If you rank it as your first choice for priority enrollment, please be sure to apply for a second and third choice seminar for the quarter. You are also encouraged to write an additional statement for your lower ranked selection(s) so those faculty learn about your interest.

Course Description

It's an exciting time for space exploration. Companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin are launching rockets into space and bringing them back for reuse. NASA is developing the world's most powerful rocket. Startups are deploying constellations of hundreds of cubesats for communications, navigation, and earth monitoring. The human race has recently gotten a close look at Pluto, soft landed on a comet, and orbited two asteroids. The James Webb Space Telescope is poised to allow astronomers to look closer to the beginning of time than ever before. 

The workings of space systems remain mysterious to most people, but in this seminar, we'll pull back the curtain for a look at the basics of "rocket science." How does a SpaceX rocket get into space? How do imaging satellites capture images for Google Earth? How did the New Horizons probe find its way to Pluto? How do we communicate with spacecraft that are so distant? We'll explore these topics and a range of others during the quarter. We'll cover just enough physics and math to determine where to look in the sky for a spacecraft, planet, or star. Then we'll check our math by going outside for an evening pizza party observing these objects in the night sky. We'll also plan to visit a spacecraft production facility or Mission Operations Center to see theory put into practice.

We'll use case studies of past and future space missions that will include not only the rockets and spacecraft but also the human element of the businesses and organizations that actually accomplish them. There will be a heavy emphasis on the real world of space missions with a guest speaker, a field trip, and a sky observing session. No prior engineering or programming experience is required.  For the problem sets, students will learn to use simple MATLAB programs that we provide to you.