Kenneth A. Connor
In an effort to join the quickly expanding trend of Massive Online Open Courses (or MOOC’s), NASA has teamed up with the Saylor Foundation to provide a 6-week-long, completely free online course to the public entitled “ Space Systems Engineering ”.
The course will use real NASA missions as case studies to cover the fundamentals of systems engineering, all while highlighting the integral part the practice plays in the pursuit of successful space flight. Furthermore, coursework will be lead directly by some of NASA space systems engineering’s most accomplished members: project manager Jeff Volosin, mission systems engineer Mike Menzel, and Dr. John C. Mather, who earned the Nobel Laureate in physics for his work on the COBE mission .
The course is designed for those with all levels of engineering experience, but is also suitably accessible for those who have absolutely no background in engineering. The content is adapted from an existing course taught at the University of Texas, but with streamlined and simplified material that presents a simpler access point to the complicated field. Much of the curriculum is presented through Youtube playlists, with ongoing opportunities to participate in Google+ hangouts with faculty members.
Kenneth A. Connor