Space Safety

You will gain an insight into a variety of topics, including space weather, space debris, collision avoidance, cyber security and space medicine.

• Understanding the three domains of space safety: space weather, planetary protection, and man-made space debris.
  
• Exploring the origins, impacts, and characteristics of space weather events.
  
• Recognizing the sources and types of space debris, and learning about mitigation strategies.
  
• Learning collision avoidance techniques for spacecraft orbiting Earth.
  
• Gaining insights into planetary defense strategies against asteroid impacts.
  
• Understanding the role of the German Space Situational Awareness Centre (GSSAC) and perspectives on space usage.
  
• Exploring cyber security principles and their importance for protecting space assets.
  
• Understanding the unique challenges and medical research conducted in space medicine.

Module 1: Introduction by Thomas Reiter

Welcome to our course on Space Safety. The introduction by former astronaut Thomas Reiter will provide the kick-off to your studies.

Module 2: Introduction Space Safety

This lecture describes the three domains of space safety as a general introduction to the lecture series. It explains the origin and impact of space weather events and the fundamentals of planetary protection and then concentrates on the third domain – man-made space debris.

Module 3: Space Weather

This lecture aims to provide students with a basic knowledge of space weather, how it is produced by our Sun, its most critical characteristics and how it can impact our infrastructure.

Module 4: Space Debris

Decades of launching spacecraft and upper stages have created an environment which requires understanding and counter measures. Space debris is generated by break-ups, collisions, solid rocket motor firings, reactor coolant releases, paint flakes and ejecta.

Module 5: Collision Avoidance

This lecture describes the techniques for avoiding collisions between active spacecraft and other objects orbiting the Earth.

Module 6: Planetary Defense and Asteroid Impacts

This lecture’s objective is to provide students with a basic knowledge of the concept of how to deal with potential asteroid impacts.

Module 7: SSA Centre

This lecture is about the German SSA Centre (GSSAC), looking at nearly the first 10 years of the civilian-military GSSAC from 2011 up until today and presenting its set-up as a civilian-military centre. The various interests in space are outlined by sketching out the civilian and the military perspectives on the use of space.

Module 8: Cyber Security

Cyber security deals with all aspects of security in information and communication technology (ICT), such as all technologies connected to the internet and comparable networks, and includes communication, applications, processes, and processed information based on ICT.

Module 9: Space Medicine

In this course module, you receive an adequate overview of the medical space research from experts at LMU University Hospital of Munich.