How to Survive on Mars: The Survival Online Course

Starting from the 24th of October Monash University (more info) introduces a new course on the basic science needed to survive on Mars. Everyone who is interested can now find out how to adapt to the red planet’s hostile environment.

You probably imagined yourself going to Mars when you were a little kid. We all did. But we didn’t think about how to survive there. That is exactly what you can learn from a free online course starting from October this year.
By the end of the course, you will be able to:

  • apply basic science to explore possible ways of producing water, oxygen, food and energy on Mars
  • communicate possible solutions and outcomes to problem-based scenarios.

During the time period of one month, you’ll get to know the main scientific terms essential for the survival on the planet as there is no air, water, nor any food. You’ll learn about the essential planning skills that will help you stay alive. The course will take you only three hours a week during one month.

The knowledge you’ll get is not only useful for living on Mars. You can use it on our planet as well. The course consists of the research findings of leading experts in the fields of chemistry, astronomy, physics and geology. The educational materials were prepared by Jasmina Lazendic-Galloway, astrophysicist, and Tina Overton, chemist.

We are living in the era of online education and it opens up tons of opportunities. More and more courses dedicated to exploring non-trivial topic appear every year. Now any student can enrich his or her studying process with new and useful knowledge. You can now go beyond the limits of a standard university program and learn what you like. As the result, the best universities start introducing original courses to their programs, like Princeton University’s course “Buddhism and Modern Psychology” or Harvard University’s “Hamlet’s Ghost”. Public online courses not only contribute to the popularization of science but also bring the needed creativity to the educational process.

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