{"id":39023,"date":"2016-05-16T10:29:21","date_gmt":"2016-05-16T14:29:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=39023"},"modified":"2016-11-24T16:11:35","modified_gmt":"2016-11-24T20:11:35","slug":"new-summer-course-on-planetary-science-launches-at-exciting-time-in-space-exploration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2016\/05\/new-summer-course-on-planetary-science-launches-at-exciting-time-in-space-exploration\/","title":{"rendered":"New summer course on planetary science launches at exciting time in space exploration"},"content":{"rendered":"

Space, the final frontier. It\u2019s an iconic Star Trek quote but to three Brock University scientists, it\u2019s more than just words.<\/span><\/p>\n

Earth Sciences professors Mariek Schmidt, Frank Fueten and Rick Cheel are bringing their passion for the solar system to students through a new online course they are developing called Planetary Science.<\/p>\n

The half-credit science context course \u2013 ERSC 1P94 \u2013 is aimed at students who don\u2019t have a background in science.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are making the content accessible to the audience without bogging them down with scientific bafflegab,\u201d said Fueten, a structural geologist who works on Mars projects. \u201cThe reality is a lot of scientific concepts can be explained in plain language.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schmidt, a volcanologist and igneous petrologist who has made headlines for her continued work on NASA\u2019s Mars Rover mission Curiosity, said the course covers everything from planets and planetary bodies to the formation of planets and the characteristics of their surfaces.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe course will include the form water takes around the solar system and wraps up with the search for life and the future of planetary exploration,\u201d she said.
\nCheel, who specializes in clastic sedimentology, said students will benefit from having three professors working with them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe each have expertise to bring to the table,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

We are really in a golden age of space exploration. There have been so many cool missions recently.<\/span><\/p>\n

Students can expect some science-fiction movie references peppered through the curriculum, which is delivered entirely online and includes reading modules, quizzes and assignments.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe try to make it fun by making pop culture references,\u201d Schmidt said, noting students seem to respond to movie references, such as to Wolverine or The Princess Bride in her other courses.<\/p>\n

All three scientists said it\u2019s an amazing time to be studying space.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are really in a golden age of space exploration,\u201d Fueten said. \u201cThere have been so many cool missions recently.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cheel agreed, adding that \u201cthe whole solar system has opened up.\u201d
\nMissions including Curiosity to Mars, New Horizons: The first mission to Pluto, the Dawn Mission to the dwarf planet Ceres and the Rosetta mission to catch a comet are a few of the recent NASA endeavours resulting in a broadened understanding of the solar system, they said.<\/p>\n

The three scientists said wanting to know about what\u2019s beyond our planet is part of the human journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cHumans want to know what\u2019s beyond the next horizon. As a species we\u2019ve always been driven to explore,\u201d Schmidt said.<\/p>\n

She said there are many, varied reasons why understanding the solar system is important.<\/p>\n

Fueten agreed, adding: \u201cYou should be aware of where you live. You care about what happens down the street, this is just a bigger neighbourhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

The course starts in July and is filling up fast. For more information visit https:\/\/brocku.ca\/springsummer\/courses\/planetary-science\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Space, the final frontier. It\u2019s an iconic Star Trek quote but to three Brock University scientists, it\u2019s more than just words.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":39028,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3319,4052,41,1,4665],"tags":[850,150,3400,852,449,447,4095,4094],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39023"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39023"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39023\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39030,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39023\/revisions\/39030"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}