Course Meeting Times
Lectures: 1 sessions / week, 2 hours / session
Course Objectives
- Understand the importance of space policy.
- Understand the stakeholders in the space enterprise.
- Understand the history of the space enterprise.
- Understand the body of law that governs what we do in space.
- Gain a feel for current space policy issues.
Reading List
There are two required texts for the course:
McDougall, Walter A. The Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age. New York: Basic Books, 1985.
Launius, Roger D., and Howard E. McCurdy. Spaceflight and the Myth of Presidential Leadership. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1997.
Other required readings will be photocopied and handed out from time to time from:
Stone, Deborah A. Policy Paradox: The Art of Political Decision Making. New York : W.W. Norton, 1997.
Spires, David N. Beyond Horizons: A Half Century of Air Force Space Leadership. US Government Printing Office, 1997.
Albert D. Wheelon. “Space policy: How Technology, Economics and Public Policy Intersect” Working paper, MIT Program in Science, Technology and Society, 1988.
Reynolds, Glenn H., and Robert P. Merges. Outer Space: Problems of Law and Policy. Boulder: Westview Press, 1989.
Assignment Types
There are three kinds of assignments for the seminar:
- Reading. Most weeks there will be extensive reading assigned. Please come to class prepared to discuss the readings for the week.
- 1-pg Memos. A 1-page memo on a relevant topic will be due almost each week. These 1-page memos are meant to be no more than 1 page, and are typical of what a high-level decision maker would expect when they ask you for background information or your recommendation.
- Group Term Project. Includes researching the issue, writing a paper/model, making a presentation to the class, and preparing reading materials for the class in preparation for the presentation. The group project will be a study of the technological, architectural and policy options associated with developing a new reusable launch vehicle.
Information on each of these is available throughout the rest of this course.
Grading Breakdown
| Activities | Percentages |
|---|---|
| Decision Memos | 50% |
| Term Project | 40% |
| Class Participation | 10% |
