GEN1000 for students admitted to Year 1 before AY2025/26, Year 2 before AY2026/27, or Year 3 before AY2027/28, except with the permission of the Module Coordinator
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This module introduces students to the history, technologies, and future possibilities of spaceexploration. Topics may include how objects move in space, how spacecraft travel and operate,major milestones in international space exploration, and the development of rockets, satellites,space stations, spacesuits, habitats, life support systems, and spaceports.
Using examples from the Moon, Mars, the Tiangong Space Station, and other missions such asSpaceX, students explore the practical challenges of space travel, as well as the ethical, legal,economic, and geopolitical questions related to future exploration and settlement. They alsoconsider how space technologies support everyday life on Earth through navigation, weatherforecasting, climate monitoring, communications, logistics, sustainability, and emerging industries.
Through discussions, digital simulation, hands-on and maker experience, and/or project work,students will apply imagination, interdisciplinary thinking, and creative problem solving to proposeand evaluate innovative solutions for space travel, survival, settlement, sustainability, and futurespace industries.
The module is designed for students from all academic backgrounds. No prior knowledge of mathematics, physics, engineering, or space science is required.
Upon completion of this module, students should be able to:
1. Introduction to Space Exploration
2. Understanding Space, Planets, and the Universe
3. Gravity, Motion, Orbits, and Atmospheres
4. Radiation, Habitability, and the Possibility of Life
5. Major Milestones in Space Exploration
6. National and International Space Programmes
7. Cooperation, Competition, and Technological Development
8. Rockets, Spacecraft, and Launch Systems of Historical and Novel Designs
9. Satellites, Space Stations, and Mission Infrastructure
10. Spacesuits, Habitats, and Life Support Systems
11. Human Survival and Settlement: Speculative Futures Beyond Earth
12. Space Law, Governance, and Ownership
13. Ethics, Sustainability, Risk, and Security
14. Space Economy and Society: New Business and Cultural Ideas
15. Future Space Missions, Projects, and Reflection