AER 101 provides an understanding of the general properties and characteristics of the geospace environment and the underlying physical mechanisms. The student will understand the fundamentals of aeronomy, study of the atomospheric environment of the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) region of the atmosphere. Special emphasis is given to the to environmental hazards most relevant to the operations of manned spacecraft, including particles and radiation, impact phenomena, spacecraft charging, aerodynamic drag, and oxygen corrosion of surfaces.

Overview
The course provides an overview of the atmospheric and space environment experienced by suborbital spacecraft. It builds an understanding of the Earth’s atmosphere from the troposphere over the stratosphere and mesosphere to the thermosphere and the near-Earth space environment. The course will introduce the relevant aspects of each environment with a focus on dynamics, chemistry, radiation environment and energetic particle environment. It will outline commonalities as well as differences between these environments and discuss effects on spacecraft where applicable. The course will also introduce measurement techniques for key quantities in the various environments. The course will close with an outlook on space weather and an overview of the atmospheric environment of Mars. While the course is part of the aeronomy concentration in IIAS, concepts introduced in the course will also be applicable to space flight operations and flight test engineering concentrations.

Course Objectives
The course will provide the student with fundamental knowledge about the Earth’s atmosphere from the troposphere to the near-Earth space environment. The student with be able to apply basic concepts that describe these environments. The course will introduce the student to simple models of Earth’s atmosphere and allow him or her to apply them to questions concerning the atmospheric environment. It will introduce the student to relevant measurement techniques of atmospheric environments and outline how suborbital measurements contribute to the characterization of these environments. Students will be able to apply this knowledge to environmental effects on spacecraft and
measurement design.

Recommended Textbooks
The course is largely based on material found in the following textbooks:

  • Frederick, J. F., Principles of Atmospheric Science, Jones and Bartlett, 2008.
  • Moldwin, M., An Introduction to Space Weather, Cambridge University Press, 2008.

Other literature relevant to the course includes:

  • Sagan C., The Demon-haunted World – Science as a Candle in the Dark, Random house, 1996.
  • Catling, D. C. and Kasting, J. F., Atmospheric Evolution on Inhabited and Lifeless Worlds, Cambridge, 2017.
  • Tascione, T. F., Introduction to the space environment (2 nd ed.), Krieger, 2010.
  • Fortescue, P., Swinerd, G., Stark, J., Spacecraft Systems Engineering (4 th ed.), Wiley, 2011.
  • Haberle, R. M., et al., The Atmosphere and Climate of Mars, Cambridge, 2017.

Prerequisites

  • AST 101 ‘Fundamentals of Astronautics’ desired.

Lectures and Assignments
This is a 3-credit course that consists of ten webinars in two-hour blocks (1.5 hours of lectures plus time for discussion of assignments) and six assignments. Two assignments will consist of self-study tasks to be summarized in write-ups/presentations, four assignments will be based on questions and calculations. Students will receive either a Pass or Fail grade.

Webinar 1 – Week of Feb. 12

  • Introduction to the Scientific Method
  • Introduction to the Earth’s Atmosphere
  • Atmospheric structure
  • Ideal gas law

Webinar 2 – Week of Feb. 19

  • Radiative Properties of the Atmosphere – Climate
  • Black body radiation
  • Interactions of light with matter
  • Atmospheric transmission
  • Atmospheric energy balance and greenhouse effect

Webinar 3 – Week of Feb. 26

  • Troposphere (1)
  • Variation of pressure with altitude
  • Hydrostatic equation
  • Concept of scale height
  • Barometric formula
  • Variation of temperature with altitude
  • Atmospheric lapse rate
  • Atmospheric stability
  • Clouds
  • Hazardous weather

Webinar 4 – Week of Mar. 4

  • Troposphere (2)
  • Forces driving wind
  • Tropospheric circulation
  • Synoptic weather systems and fronts
  • Numerical weather prediction
  • Impact of weather on spacecraft operations

Webinar 5 – Week of Mar. 11

  • Stratosphere
  • Stratospheric dynamics
  • Concept of potential temperature and gravity waves
  • Concept of potential vorticity and planetary waves
  • Stratospheric ozone chemistry and polar stratospheric clouds
  • Impact of air traffic on the stratosphere

Webinar 6 – Week of Mar. 18

  • Mesosphere
  • Mesospheric composition and chemistry
  • Mesospheric temperatures and energy balance
  • Mesospheric dynamics, gravity waves and tides
  • Polar mesospheric clouds and polar mesospheric summer echoes

Webinar 7 – Week of Mar. 25

  • Upper Atmosphere: Thermosphere
  • Thermospheric energy input
  • Thermospheric composition and chemistry
  • Thermospheric structure
  • Environmental effects on spacecraft

Webinar 8 – Week of Apr. 1

  • Upper Atmosphere: Ionosphere
  • Ionospheric layers
  • Impact on radio transmissions
  • Optical effects in the upper atmosphere
  • Aurora
  • Airglow
  • Optical effects above Thunderstorms

Webinar 9 – Week of Apr. 8

  • Upper Atmosphere: Exosphere and Near-Earth Space Environment
  • Movement of charged particles
  • Earth’s magnetic field
  • Magnetosphere and Van Allen radiation belts
  • Solar energetic particles and cosmic rays – space weather
  • Exobase and atmospheric escape
  • Environmental effects on spacecraft

Webinar 10 – Week of Apr. 15

  • Comparative Planetology: Introduction to Mars’ Atmosphere
  • Mars’ atmospheric structure and composition
  • Seasonal and diurnal temperature cycles
  • Dust and condensates and their radiative effects
  • Entry, descent and landing of spacecraft on Mars

Course Start: First week of February

Duration: 10 weeks

2023 International Institute for Astronautical Sciences. All Rights Reserved

2 STUDENTS ENROLLED

2022 Course Schedule

april

11apr(apr 11)8:00 am15(apr 15)5:00 pmAST 101: PoSSUM Scientist-Astronaut Candidate Class 2401

15apr(apr 15)8:00 am19(apr 19)5:00 pmAST 101: PoSSUM Academy - Red Sprite Group (Spring 2024)

18apr(apr 18)8:00 am22(apr 22)5:00 pmAST 101: PoSSUM Scientist-Astronaut Candidate Class 2402

21apr(apr 21)6:00 pm26(apr 26)5:00 pmAST 101: PoSSUM Scientist-Astronaut Candidate Class 2403

may

24may(may 24)8:00 am27(may 27)3:00 pmEVA 103 Planetary Field Geology Field Campaign (2024)Field campaign in planetary field geology including EVA tool evaluation. (Online classes start Summer Semester)

27may(may 27)5:00 pm31(may 31)1:00 pmEVA 102 Operational Space Medicine (2024)FIeld campaign covering space medicine, wilderness medicine, human performance, leadership and psychological resilience. (Online classes start Summer Semester)

august

02aug(aug 2)8:00 am07(aug 7)9:00 pmFeaturedAER 103 Noctilucent Cloud Imagery Field Research Campaign (2024)Field campaign as part of AER 103, Noctilucent Cloud Imagery course to study noctilucent cloud formations through coordinated ground, airborne, and/or balloon observations.

12aug(aug 12)8:00 am15(aug 15)5:00 pmFeaturedAST 102 Microgravity Research Campaign (2024)Microgravity Research Campaign supporting the IIAS AST 102 Program (Online class start in May)

october

03oct(oct 3)8:00 am06(oct 6)5:00 pmFeaturedEVA 104 Gravity-Offset EVA Space Suit Evaluation Campaign (2024)Gravity-offset research campaign to evaluate an EVA space suit by applying the tools and techniques developed through EVA 102 and EVA 103 courses

26octAll Day30OPS 102 Spacecraft Egress and Rescue Operations On-Site (2024)Aircraft egress and sea survial training to complement OPS 102 post-landing human space flight system engineering instruction.

31oct(oct 31)8:00 am03nov(nov 3)5:00 pmFeaturedBIO 104: Advanced Egress and Post-Landing Space Suit Evaluation (2024)On-site BIO 104 campaign to evaluate Orion spacecraft egress and parachute drop scenarios using space suits in water.

november

04nov(nov 4)8:00 am07(nov 7)1:00 pmEVA 105 Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory EVA Operations Campaign (2024)On-Site compliment to EVA 105 using analog training suits

07nov(nov 7)8:00 am08(nov 8)5:00 pmFeaturedEVA 106 Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory EVA Operations Campaign (2024)On-Site compliment to EVA 106 using medium-fidelity analog space suits

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