Academy
Space Education Academy
Sixteen lessons in three levels. Each one explains the science, links to a simulation you can try, checks your understanding and points to authoritative further reading. Stuck on a term? Use the glossary.
16 lessons shown
Beginner
- Beginner 8 minIntroduction to astronomyWhat astronomers study, how we measure the sky and why light is our main messenger from the universe.
- Beginner 9 minSolar System fundamentalsThe Sun, eight planets, dwarf planets and small bodies — how they are arranged and how they formed.
- Beginner 9 minStars and planetsWhat makes a star shine, how stars differ, and what separates a star from a planet.
- Beginner 8 minGravity and motionNewton's laws and universal gravitation — the rules that govern falling apples and orbiting moons alike.
- Beginner 8 minSpace exploration basicsHow we reach space, the kinds of missions we fly, and why exploring robotically and with humans both matter.
Intermediate
- Intermediate 12 minOrbital mechanicsKepler's laws, orbital elements and the vis-viva equation — the language of spacecraft trajectories.
- Intermediate 11 minRocket propulsionThrust, specific impulse, the rocket equation and why rockets have stages.
- Intermediate 11 minSpacecraft systemsPower, thermal, communications, attitude control and data handling — the subsystems every spacecraft needs.
- Intermediate 10 minPlanetary scienceHow planets differentiate, why atmospheres differ, and what geology tells us about history.
- Intermediate 9 minTelescope fundamentalsAperture, resolution, refractors and reflectors, and why we put telescopes in space.
Advanced
- Advanced 14 minAstrodynamicsThe two-body problem, conic sections, perturbations and the restricted three-body problem.
- Advanced 13 minOrbital transfersHohmann and bi-elliptic transfers, plane changes, gravity assists and launch windows.
- Advanced 12 minMission designFrom science goals to Δv budgets, mass margins and risk — how missions are engineered.
- Advanced 12 minExoplanet detectionTransits, radial velocity, imaging and microlensing — and what each reveals about a planet.
- Advanced 11 minSpace systems engineeringRequirements, interfaces, verification and the discipline that holds complex missions together.
- Advanced 14 minAstrophysicsStellar evolution, compact objects, galaxies and the expanding universe.