A space-focused education is an important component of our knowledge base that provides the means for better choices about how to utilize the space environment for human benefit. Space exploration has resulted in development of satellites that play a vital role in modern society. These satellites provide global communication networks. They provide accurate weather and crop forecasting that every year saves countless lives by facilitating natural disaster mitigation, and allows for farmers throughout the world to better provide food for their peoples. These satellites are also critical for a better understanding of global environmental change issues, such as ozone depletion and climate change that can threaten the very biosphere in which we live.

As we explore and study planets, we learn more about this one. Comparative planetology, the study of Earth in comparison other planets, has been instrumental in identifying global environmental problems. NASA scientists trying to understand why the surface temperature of Venus is warm enough to melt lead have proven the validity of greenhouse warming and its potential devastating effects. Likewise, planetary scientists trying to understand Mars identified what was causing ozone depletion back here on Earth.

The space program has instilled a belief in the power of science and technology. It has instilled the ideas that science and technology can be harnessed for peaceful purposes and for solving social and environmental problems, and as an area of activity that promotes education in the sciences, technology, engineering, and math. NASA invests more than one billion dollars in institutes of higher education to support faculty, graduate students, and research about space and environmental sciences. The Department of Space Studies is a fundamental part of this investment.

Space has begun to mature as an area of on-going academic interest, governmental concern, and space business, particularly in telecommunications and space launch services. Historically, the space industry has been a major driver of new technology development and one source of competitive advantage in global markets. In 2002, the Final Report of the Commission on the Future of the United States Aerospace Industry recognized the key role of the space industry and how its decline over the last decade has impacted the competitiveness of the United States in global markets. This decline is largely due to workforce shortages. The Commission called in its report for educational programs to address this workforce issue. Space Studies represents an important educational program of scholarship that helps to remedy these workforce shortages.

The Department of Space Studies was the first interdisciplinary space education program in the world. Most colleges and universities offer degrees in space sciences and engineering, whereas the Space Studies Master of Science degree combines space physical sciences, space life sciences, space engineering, space policy, management, and law, space business and economics, and space history. The next generation of space program decision-makers will need the expertise provided by this program to oversee future space achievements. While engineers and scientists provide the technical craft to accomplish space goals, knowledgeable managers and analysts with broader backgrounds that understand the linkages between technology, science, policy, management, law, and business will decide what those goals should be and how to implement them. National space agencies, and the commercial, military, and educational segments of national space programs need our Space Studies graduates who will be well prepared to participate, lead, and guide space exploration and development of space activities.

History of the Space Studies Program

In 1987, Dr. David Webb, a member of the 1985-1986 Presidential Commission on Space, founded the Department of Space Studies. Prior to this, in the early 1980s, John D. Odegard, the Dean of the Center for Aerospace Sciences, invited Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the Moon, to help organize a space education program. Aldrin's contributions included recommending the appointment of Dr. Webb to design the Space Studies program and to serve as the first Chair of the Department. The original faculty members of the program taught classes on campus and at the Grand Forks and Minot Air Force Bases.

In 1990, Dr. Charles A. Wood, then of the NASA Johnson Space Center, became Chair of the Department and brought several educational innovations to fruition including increased use of the Internet. By 1996, the Department of Space Studies began offering classes through distance learning via space.edu. Distance learning has been extremely successful, and in 1998 the Department of Space Studies became the largest graduate program at the University of North Dakota.

The funding structure of the Department was changed, by increasing appropriated funds and decreasing dependence on internally generated funds. All faculty positions were changed to tenure-track positions. Teaching loads were reduced and research expectations were increased to allow for a more rigorous research-based program. The admission and program requirements were updated as well to better reflect the cross-disciplinary aspects of the program and increased rigor. Outcomes of this new approach are faculty stability, increased research funding, increased on-campus enrollment, and successful implementation of a master's thesis track in the program. Future plans include the development of a Ph.D. program in Space Studies, and the establishment of Space Studies as a Center of Excellence.

Space Studies was the first practitioner of interdisciplinary space education and scholarship, and is known for graduating quality professionals that have interacted productively with all the space sectors. Space Studies was also one of the first complete graduate degree programs to be offered via the Internet. From the beginning, space.edu has been successful. Our students are our best advertisement. Our alumni work throughout the many segments of the space arena and around the world. Their choice of our program and their support for what we do speaks volumes to our success. The unique cross-disciplinary training of our alumni is one of the main reasons that Space Studies is recognized as the premier program for the current and future workforce in the space community.

The faculty are the foundation of the Department, and come from a diverse background encompassing the aerospace industry, NASA, the United States Air Force, and scientific and research institutes. They are all either established as major players in their respective disciplines or are developing reputations as such. These faculty have come to Space Studies because they all share a broader perspective of their respective disciplines and are interested in interdisciplinary scholarship.

The Department also has multiple programmatic and personal relations with the space community. The Director of the NASA Space Grant and the NASA-EPSCoR programs in North Dakota is the Chair of the Department of Space Studies. This has allowed the Department to become the nexus of NASA-related education and training infrastructure in North Dakota. Space Studies faculty have NASA and NSF research and training grants. Students of Space Studies visit NASA space centers and serve as interns within the space and scientific communities. Space Studies alumni work within the space community, and many of the distance students are working professionals within the government and commercial space sectors.

The Department of Space Studies sustains 25 students on campus and more than 100 students in the distance program. More than 500 Masters of Science Degrees in Space Studies have been awarded since the Department's inception in 1987. Space Studies graduates have careers in a variety of different areas in space, including: government, business, science, social science, law, medicine, education, military, and public relations.