SPACE RESOURCES (SPRS)

SPRS501. SPACE RESOURCES FUNDAMENTALS. 3.0 Semester Hrs.

(I,II) This course provides an overview of the space resources field, including the current knowledge of available resources in the Solar System, extraction and utilization systems under development, economic and technical feasibility studies, legal and policy issues, and space exploration architectures that may be enabled by utilizing extraterrestrial resources in the near future. The course will build broad knowledge and develop confidence in problem solving in the space resources field. This is an 8-week online course. Prerequisite: Working knowledge of physical sciences, engineering fields, or economics at an advanced undergraduate level, with basic numerical analysis skills using a programming language or spreadsheet calculations.

SPRS502. SPACE SYSTEMS ENGINEERING. 3.0 Semester Hrs.

(I,II) This course conveys the fundamentals of the systems engineering process as applied to large, complex space systems. It is intended for graduate students with various backgrounds. The students will become familiar with full scope of the systems engineering process from requirements definition, system design, system analysis through system verification. The process will be illustrated with real-world examples from current space systems with an emphasis on systems relevant to the development of space resources. This is an 8-week online course. Prerequisite: SPRS501.

SPRS503. SPACE RESOURCES SEMINAR. 1.0 Semester Hr.

(I, II) The Space Resources Seminar will engage students in the program with current research and developments related to space resources. Students will assess the importance and relevance to the space resources field in the near-, medium-, or long-term of topics covered in lectures presented by technical experts from a variety of disciplines. They will report and analyze events, news, and research publications and develop scientific, technical, and economic arguments for their impact and relevance to the space resources field, while also responding thoughtfully and critically to other students' contributions. Students will synthesize the information presented during the course in a final report with an analysis of the most important developments in the science, technology, economics and policy of space resources during the course period. This is an 16-week online seminar course.

SPRS504. ECONOMICS OF SPACE RESOURCES. 3.0 Semester Hrs.

(I,II) This course provides an overview of economics and business topics that are commonly found in the space industries. Students will build a basic knowledge of economics, finance, and business issues that are relevant to space resource markets and industries. The big picture is to help provide perspective on what investors or the financial officers at companies are investing in and planning for in or around the space industry. Prerequisite: SPRS501.

SPRS505. SPACE OPERATIONS. 3.0 Semester Hrs.

(I,II) This course explores the people, events, missions, operations, and basic system principles that have shaped the space industry. It is intended for graduate students with various backgrounds. Students will become familiar with space operations principles through work in orbital mechanics, space environments analysis, as well as mission and spacecraft design. Students will evaluate a broad range of existing missions and architectures from different perspectives through various case studies and discussions and will apply these concepts to the preliminary design of a space mission. Eight-week online course with asynchronous web content and no on-campus lectures, but with two synchronous, one-hour videoconferencing sessions per week. Prerequisite: SPRS501.

SPRS506. INTERNATIONAL SPACE LAW & POLICY. 3.0 Semester Hrs.

(II) This course will familiarize students with the fundamentals of international space law, and train students to think critically about issues of space law and policy as human utilization of space continues to grow and change. Students will be exposed to new ways of thinking-spotting issues and applying what is learned in order to analyze issues of space law. It is intended for graduate students with various backgrounds. This is an 8-week online course. Prerequisite: SPRS501.

SPRS507. ADVANCED PLANETARY GEOLOGY. 3.0 Semester Hrs.

(I,II) This course provides a detailed look at planetary bodies, from atmosphere to surface to interior. The focus is on the geological processes that have formed then transformed these bodies over time, with special attention paid to the formation of space resources. These processes include accretion and differentiation, impact cratering, tectonics, geodynamics, volcanism, erosion and deposition, and chemical weathering, among others. Schedule Type: Eight-week online course with asynchronous web content and no on-campus lectures, but with two synchronous, one-hour videoconferencing sessions per week. Prerequisite: SPRS501.

SPRS508. REGOLITH PROPERTIES AND PROCESSING. 3.0 Semester Hrs.

This course provides a detailed look at regolith, the unconsolidated layer of fragmented rock that covers the surface of most terrestrial planetary bodies. The first half of the course focuses on regolith properties, including how regolith forms, its structure and composition on different bodies, and its physical and geotechnical properties. In the latter half, the course explores end-to-end processing methods for regolith including excavation & transport, mineral processing/beneficiation, construction & manufacturing, and oxygen/metal extraction. Prerequisites: Space Resources Fundamentals (SPRS 501). SPRS 507 is recommended but not required; students planning to take both this course and SPRS 507 should take SPRS 507 first.

SPRS591. SPACE RESOURCES PROJECT I. 3.0 Semester Hrs.

(I) This course will provide graduate students in the program with directed team-based project learning by exploring the design, planning, and analysis of missions, processes, systems, science, business, and economics for space resources assessment, extraction, and utilization. The course will meet formally online once a week for one hour and include a discussion on relevant design aspects of space mission, processes, and/or systems. In this regard, it will build on content learned in the Space Resources Fundamentals, Space Systems Engineering, and other courses in the Space Resources Program. Students will collaborate in multi-disciplinary teams and will be advised by a course instructor with significant industrial design experience and supported by faculty affiliated with the Space Resources program from relevant disciplines on campus. For teams with students in space resource economics, detailed economic analyses will be incorporated into those projects. Student teams will prepare a preliminary design, planning and analysis report early in the semester, one interim progress report, and a final report and project presentation. This is a 16-week online course. Prerequisite: SPRS501 and SPRS502.

SPRS592. SPACE RESOURCES PROJECT II. 3.0 Semester Hrs.

(II) This course will provide graduate students in the Masters and PhD programs in Space Resources with an independent design and analysis project. This project will be guided by the course instructor and a technical advisor, and will enable the student to delve deeply into a particular system related to the prospecting, extraction, processing, and utilization of potential space resources, as well as business and economics cases in this field. As much as possible, projects will be coordinated with industrial or government agency partners who are collaborating with the program. The course will involve weekly online meetings where ideas are exchanged and progress discussed within the context of design and analysis principles learned in the prerequisite courses. Students will be partnered with a faculty member affiliated with the Space Resources Program. The student will prepare a final report and presentation to present to industry collaborators, space resources faculty, and other students in the course. The final report and/or presentation as appropriate will be converted to a journal publication, conference publication and/or research proposal and resources from the program will support student costs for publishing and/or presenting the work. This is a 16-week online course. Prerequisite: SPRS501, SPRS502, SPRS591.

SPRS598. SPECIAL TOPICS IN SPACE RESOURCES. 6.0 Semester Hrs.

(I, II, S) Pilot course or special topics course. Topics chosen from special interests of instructor(s) and student(s). Usually the course is offered only once, but no more than twice for the same course content. Prerequisite: SPRS501. Variable credit: 0 to 6 credit hours. Repeatable for credit under different titles.

SPRS599. INDEPENDENT STUDY IN SPACE RESOURCES. 0.5-6 Semester Hr.

Students can do Individual research or special projects supervised by a faculty member. The student and instructor will agree on the subject matter, content, and credit hours.

SPRS707. GRADUATE THESIS / DISSERTATION RESEARCH CREDIT. 1-15 Semester Hr.

(I, II, S) Research credit hours required for completion of Doctoral dissertation. Research must be carried out under the direct supervision of the student's faculty advisor. Variable class and semester hours. Repeatable for credit. Prerequisite: Instructor approval.