ASTR-2020: Introduction to Space Astronomy and Exploration

Fall 2020, Fiske Planetarium, MWF 11:30 am-12:20 pm

Information Syllabus Schedule Grades via Desire2Learn

Professor Jack Burns, Ph.D.

Department of Astrophysical & Planetary Sciences

Office: Stadium 120B (enter Stadium between Gates 3 and 4)
Office Hours via Zoom: Monday 1-2 pm; Thursday 2-3 pm; or by appointment
Cell Phone & Text: 303-579-0399
Email: jack.burns@colorado.edu
Web page: https://www.colorado.edu/faculty/burns/

Requirements for COVID-19

As a matter of public health and safety due to the pandemic, all members of the CU Boulder community and all visitors to campus must follow university, department and building requirements, and public health orders in place to reduce the risk of spreading infectious disease. Required safety measures at CU Boulder relevant to the classroom setting include:

● maintain 6-foot distancing when possible,

● wear a cloth face covering (over nose and mouth), especially when unable to maintain a distance of at least 12 feet,

● clean local work area,

● practice hand hygiene,

● follow public health orders, and

● if sick and

○ you live off campus, do not come onto campus (unless instructed by a CU Healthcare professional), or

○ you live on-campus, please alert CU Boulder Medical Services.

Students who fail to adhere to these requirements will be asked to leave class, and students who do not leave class when asked or who refuse to comply with these requirements will be referred to Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution. For more information, see the policies on COVID-19 Health and Safety and classroom behavior and the Student Code of Conduct. If you require accommodation because a disability prevents you from fulfilling these safety measures, please see the “Accommodation for Disabilities” statement on this syllabus.

Before returning to campus, all students must complete the COVID-19 Student Health and Expectations Course. Before coming on to campus each day, all students are required to complete a Daily Health Form. In this class, you will be reminded of the responsibility to complete the Daily Health Form.

Students who have tested positive for COVID-19, have symptoms of COVID-19, or have had close contact with someone who has tested positive for or had symptoms of COVID-19 must stay home and complete the Health Questionnaire and Illness Reporting Form remotely. In this class, if you are sick or quarantined, please E-mail me to alert me that you will unable to attend class and the length of time that you expect to be away. 

Class Textbook:

Course Description:

Astronomy 2020: Space Astronomy and Space Exploration covers physical principles of performing  astronomy and human exploration in space. The basic design of launch vehicles and spacecraft, orbital dynamics, and instruments will be described in the context of specific space missions (e.g., Hubble Space Telescope, Mars rovers, other planetary probes) as well as prospects for future space observatories in orbit and on the Moon. The balance between technology and science, humans and robots, as well as near-term and long-term exploration destinations will be discussed.  Astronomy 2020 is an excellent introduction to space science and space engineering for first or second year undergraduates. This class is approved for the campus Space Minor and for the Arts and Sciences core curriculum: natural science.

Course Prerequisites:

None.

Course Objectives:

1. How do we explore space with humans and robots?
2. How does the U.S. history in space with the Apollo program, the Space Shuttle, and the International Space Station prepare us for further space exploration?
3. How will robotic and human spacecraft travel to the Moon and Mars?  What are the challenges of living on an alien, hostile world?  Where else might we explore in the solar system?
4. What will we learn about the cosmos from the Hubble Space Telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope, X-ray observatories, and low frequency telescopes on the farside of the Moon?

Strategies for Reaching the Objectives:

• This class will be in-person this semester so you are expected to come to class!  Plan on attending every meeting of this class.  If you miss a class, you will lose points.
• Stay up with the reading.  There will be assigned reading from the textbook or from webpages before each class.
• Take the homework assignments and class discussion seriously.  They will represent important parts of your grade.  Exam questions will come from homework, reading assingnments, class clicker and short-answer questions, and class discussion.
• Discuss the class and homework with other students, and then turn in your own work.  Testing your ideas against others is an important way to learn.
• Take advantage of office hours to ask questions.
• Take advantage of the Astronomy Help room via Zoom on TWTh from 2-7 pm.

Class Web page:

http://lunar.colorado.edu/~jaburns/astr2020

Homework Assignments:

There will be regular homework assignments based upon the assigned reading, class lecture, and class discussion.  The assignments will be mainly short answers.  Both essay and calculation problems will be assigned.  Late homeworks will be accepted but only 50% maximum credit can be earned for the late assignment.

Exams:

There will be 3 in-class mid-term exams during the semester.  The exams will be a combination of multiple choice and short answer questions.  The lowest of the 3 midterms will be dropped.  As a result, NO make-up exams will be given.

The exams will be closed book.  However, students may bring one sheet of paper (front and back) with notes for each exam.

Final Paper:

In lieu of a final exam, a 5 page final paper is required. This paper will be on one of five topics in the broad areas of space astronomy, space engineering, and space exploration. Guidelines for your paper are found here.

In-Class Participation and Class Exercises:

Regular individual participation in class discussion is a critical part of this class.  Several times each class, you will be asked questions designed to get you to think carefully about some of the concepts that we are discussing in class.  You will respond in writing with a short answer.  You will be asked to talk with your neighbors before answering, so you can help each other to figure out the correct answer.  Response to these class exercise questions:

• Improves your grades (everyone's grades!).  When you discuss & debate with others, your knowledge improves.
• Gives YOU immediate feedback on what you do and do not understand.
• Tells your instructiior what the class doesn't understand.
• Greatly improves class participation.

We will sometimes start class with a multiple choice or short-answer question based upon the assigned reading.  So, do your reading before class!

You are entitled to 3 "free" days where your lowest short answer scores will be dropped.  If you are sick for a day, have a family emergency, etc., this should cover you.  You can miss up to 3 classes without it hurting you. If you are ill for a longer period of time, please see me so we can make appropriate accomodations. 

Space in the News 

As part of the class participation requirement, each student will present present a summary and then lead a brief discussion of an on-line article about recent developments in Space Science and Human Space Exploration. A sign-up sheet will be distributed where you can select a class day during the semester to present; see the completed day/time for your presentation here. Possible sources of on-line news include space.com, spacedaily.com, thespacereview.com and http://science.nasa.gov.

Class PowerPoint Lecture Notes

Class PowerPoint presentations will be placed on the Astr 2020 website AFTER each lecture.  The format will be PDF with 6 slides per page so you can easily print out the notes.  A link to each PowerPoint presentation can be found in the drop-down menu "Schedule" under the date of the lecture.

Fiske Planetarium

Class will be conducted in our state-of-the-art Fiske Planetarium (near Regent Drive and Kittridge Loop Drive) which seats over 200 people. So, there will be plenty of space for social distancing. 

Preferred Student Names and Pronouns

CU Boulder recognizes that students' legal information doesn't always align with how they identify. Students may update their preferred names and pronouns via the student portal; those preferred names and pronouns are listed on instructors' class rosters. In the absence of such updates, the name that appears on the class roster is the student's legal name.

Religious Observances:

Campus policy regarding religious observances requires that faculty make every effort to reasonably and fairly deal with all students who, because of religious obligations, have conflicts with scheduled exams, assignments or required attendance. In this class, please contact me in advance of the religious observation to make arrangements. See details at http://www.colorado.edu/policies/observance-religious-holidays-and-absences-classes-andor-exams.

Sexual Misconduct, Discrimination, Harassment and/or Related Retaliation

The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) is committed to fostering an inclusive and welcoming learning, working, and living environment. CU Boulder will not tolerate acts of sexual misconduct (harassment, exploitation, and assault), intimate partner violence (dating or domestic violence), stalking, or protected-class discrimination or harassment by members of our community. Individuals who believe they have been subject to misconduct or retaliatory actions for reporting a concern should contact the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance (OIEC) at 303-492-2127 or cureport@colorado.edu. Information about the OIEC, university policies, anonymous reporting, and the campus resources can be found on the OIEC website.

Please know that faculty and instructors have a responsibility to inform OIEC when made aware of incidents of sexual misconduct, dating and domestic violence, stalking, discrimination, harassment and/or related retaliation, to ensure that individuals impacted receive information about options for reporting and support resources.

Classroom Behavior:

Both students and faculty are responsible for maintaining an appropriate learning environment in all instructional settings, whether in person, remote or online. Those who fail to adhere to such behavioral standards may be subject to discipline. Professional courtesy and sensitivity are especially important with respect to individuals and topics dealing with race, color, national origin, sex, pregnancy, age, disability, creed, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, political affiliation or political philosophy. For more information, see the policies on classroom behavior and the Student Code of Conduct.

Honor Code

All students enrolled in a University of Colorado Boulder course are responsible for knowing and adhering to the Honor Code. Violations of the policy may include: plagiarism, cheating, fabrication, lying, bribery, threat, unauthorized access to academic materials, clicker fraud, submitting the same or similar work in more than one course without permission from all course instructors involved, and aiding academic dishonesty. All incidents of academic misconduct will be reported to the Honor Code (honor@colorado.edu); 303-492-5550). Students found responsible for violating the academic integrity policy will be subject to nonacademic sanctions from the Honor Code as well as academic sanctions from the faculty member. Additional information regarding the Honor Code academic integrity policy can be found at the Honor Code Office website.

When in doubt about plagiarism, paraphrasing, quoting, or collaboration, consult with me.

Disability Services:

If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, please submit your accommodation letter from Disability Services to me in a timely manner so that your needs can be addressed.  Disability Services determines accommodations based on documented disabilities in the academic environment.  Information on requesting accommodations is located on the Disability Services website. Contact Disability Services at 303-492-8671 or dsinfo@colorado.edu for further assistance.  If you have a temporary medical condition, see Temporary Medical Conditions on the Disability Services website.

Email:

I will be communicating weekly with you via email on class assignments, homework, Space in the News articles, etc. It is essential that you log onto your official CU email account at least twice weekly to read these communications!

Grading:

Your final grade will be based upon:

• 15% for class participation. This includes student class exercises (short answer questions) conducted each class session.  Short-answer questions will be graded 1 point for any answer and 2 points for the correct answer. Your 3 lowest score days will be dropped. The Space-in-the-News presentation will be worth 5% of your grade.
• 25% for homework.
• 40% for mid-term exams (total of 3 midterms will be given but the lowest will be dropped).
• 20% for the final paper.