The NASA Apollo missions of the 1960s marked humanity’s first bold step beyond Earth. While human spaceflight slowed after Apollo until the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station eras, robotic missions surged ahead, transforming our understanding of the solar system. Spacecraft have explored all nine classical planets, many moons, asteroids, comets, regions near the sun, and even beyond Pluto. These discoveries reveal a solar system far more dynamic and resource-rich (water, organic compounds, and metals) than once imagined, opening the door to a future in space.

Today, we are poised to take the next steps. With advanced knowledge and technology, we can map resources and plan human missions and eventual settlements on the Moon, Mars, the asteroid belt, and beyond. Key resources are already within reach: water for life support and fuel, and materials for construction and manufacturing. The Moon may hold Helium-3 for future energy, while subsurface lava tubes on the Moon and Mars could shelter early habitats.

This course will review what we have learned from human and robotic space exploration of the solar system, with a focus on the discoveries made with relevance for the human colonization of space. Each lecture will focus on one aspect of the solar system, what we have learned and what is planned for future missions. Finally, we will discuss some of the possible scientific and societal consequences for humanity as we begin to move away from humanity’s birth planet and colonize the galaxy.

The course will consist of six sessions, each 90 minutes long, focused on the following themes: