Space systems safety and mission assurance case study-based graduate education

There is a significant number of discussions lately, at both government agencies and private industry, about sending crewed missions further into space. Sending astronauts back to the Moon and, for the first time, to Mars seems to make space enthusiasts around the world excited given the noteworthy tests and preparations going on in the last few years. The decision to launch crewed missions into space depends primarily on three aspects: technology, budget, and mission risk. Even when the first two aspects are addressed, the third question still remains: is it safe enough? Generally, Safety and Mission Assurance (S&MA) for space systems is taught in space systems programs from an operations standpoint. There are very few to no courses across the USA that address space S&MA from the design engineering perspective. There is also limited teaching of ethics-based safety culture in the engineering programs offered across the country. The resultant gap between graduates’ knowledge of space S&MA and the needed skills to conduct design engineering of space systems is, at the moment, mostly filled by the space agencies and private space industry. The graduate course framework presented in this paper is built on a student-centered approach through customized case-study experiences that promotes understanding and motivation, which are significant aspects of making risk-based decisions with considerations to safeguarding human lives. By exploring the root causes of human space flight close calls, incidents, and mishaps, students can envision themselves in the space operational environment and can become aware of how design engineering, safety culture, and ethics act through a combined feedforward and feedback mechanism to ensure reliable and safe operations. Then, connecting back to the theoretical course material creates the student's understanding and motivation once they act as decision-makers after graduation. The proposed case study-based course framework also promotes critical thinking and problem-solving for the safety engineering aspects of the design of space systems. Understanding and motivation, together with critical-thinking and problem-solving is expected to prove the efficacy of case-study-based instruction and support instilling student ethical decision making, with its component parts of integrity, accountability, and responsibility.