No Prior Orbit Experience Necessary
This one-of-a-kind course at FAU is open to all undergraduate students willing to be crew members for the University’s expedition to Mars. Plan your mission with faculty from across four colleges. Learn about propulsion when lifting off from Earth and landing on Mars, the psychological and physiological impacts of the 100 million mile journey, colonizing and surviving on the red planet and much more.
Florida Atlantic University’s Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters and Charles E. Schmidt College of Science presents the panel discussion “Mission to Mars: An Out of This World Proposition,” on Tuesday, Oct. 24 at 3 p.m. in the FAU-BC Higher Education Complex, Gallery 131, 111 East Las Olas Blvd., in Fort Lauderdale. Learn more and register.
PBS Star Gazers: Mission to Mars |
NASA Scientist Jim Rice, Ph.D., Speaks to FAU Human Mission to Mars Class |
Robert Zubrin, Ph.D., Speaks to FAU Human Mission to Mars Class |
Star Gazers brings you Star Gazers: Mission to Mars! |
Scientist Jim Rice, Ph.D., spoke to the inaugural Mission to Mars class in Fall 2019. |
Click here to watch Robert Zubrin's public talk, The Case for Space, at Florida Atlantic University on November 15, 2019. |
REGISTER HERE |
Visit the Registrar for information. |
Course Information: Fall 2023 Human Mission to Mars | Subject: IDS | CRN: 15673 | Course Number: 2382 | Section: 001 | Credit Hours: 3 | Meeting Times: Wednesday and Friday from 2:00-3:20 p.m.
Note: The Human Mission to Mars course credits count towards the Intellectual Foundations Program (IFP) requirements for a student's degree.
Propulsion |
Liftoff from Earth, landing on Mars, liftoff from Mars and landing on the Earth |
Timing of Mission |
Minimize travel time – use of the Hohmann transfer orbit |
Psychology |
Effects of long-term spaceflight on human consciousness |
Sociology |
Effects of long-term spaceflight on human relationships and groups of humans |
Nutrition |
Food and nutritive sustenance on the way there |
Physiology |
Physical effects of extended spaceflight on the human body |
Creating a Colony |
Key components of building and functioning a Martian colony – building materials, design, functionality |
Food on Mars |
Growing food on Mars – within the atmosphere-controlled colony |
Ethics |
Are there ethical issues related to a human mission to Mars? |
Each student will join a small group to collaboratively develop efficient and systematic solutions to problems being posed. Each group member will have opportunities to serve as the project lead, coordinating activities of the group.
The course is taught in a non-lecture, active learning format. Time spent in class is centered around group discussions, projects, and developing the deductive thought process that scientists use to solve problems.
Module 1 |
Why Mars? Why colonize? Why is the multidisciplinary approach being taught in this course so important? What are the student learning outcomes and why are they important? Brief history of Mars exploration from the ground and in space. |
Module 2 |
Introduce the “Mars Direct” argument and the general strategy for a sustainable Mars mission, including issues such as propulsion, and using Martian resources to sustain life as well as to create fuel for the return trip. |
Module 3a |
Effects of extended spaceflight on the human body covering topics such as landbased modeling of spaceflight and NASA exercise countermeasures program. |
Module 3b |
Effects of extended spaceflight on the human body covering the topic of engineering the gut microbiomes of astronauts. |
Module 4 |
Effects of long-term spaceflight on human consciousness and on human relationships and groups of humans. |
Module 5 |
Key components of building and functioning a Martian colony – building materials, design, functionality, atmospheric control. |
Module 6a |
How to harness the water required to grow food on Mars. Microbiomes in the gut. Overview of Earthly origins, microbes in Man and Mars, emphasizing the indispensable roles human microbes play on earth, in space and Mars? Strategic solutions for human microbiome issues - depletion, low diversity, virulence, stress, mood changes and social impact, etc. |
Module 6b |
Growing food on Mars within the atmosphere-controlled colony. |
Module 7 |
Influence of Artificial Intelligence on a human mission to Mars. |
Module 8 |
Ethical and political issues related to a human mission to Mars. |
Module 9 |
Poster presentations. |
For information about the course, please contact Ata Sarajedini, Ph.D., at asarajedini@fau.edu.
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
Student-led teams from the Human Mission to Mars course presented their research on Mars exploration at a research symposium.