Living and Working in Space
These modules follow people in space: the life support and spacewalk basics that keep a crew alive, how the human body responds, the stations they live on and who runs and resupplies them.
Modules On This Topic
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Space Law, Policy, and Life Sciences
A light preview of the Outer Space Treaty and how the human body responds to spaceflight, setting up the deeper policy course to come.
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Living and Working in Space
Life support systems, spacewalk basics, daily life aboard a station, and how crews actually get back down — capsule vs. spaceplane. Module 5 of SSA-02.
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Stations, Shuttles, Militarization
Skylab and Salyut/Mir's two approaches to stations, the Shuttle's design compromises behind its two losses, and space becoming contested territory.
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International Cooperation and the ISS
Shuttle-Mir as the bridge program, the real reasons the ISS became multinational, its five partner agencies, and running a station with no single owner.
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Space Station Flight Operations
Who actually runs the ISS minute to minute — the distributed mission control centers, the flight team's roles, and how much happens from the ground.
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Commercial Applications and Servicing
How cargo reaches a station across government and commercial vehicles, and the new capability of servicing satellites already in orbit, not replacing them.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How do crews get back down?
SSA-02 Module 5 covers life support systems, spacewalk basics, daily life aboard a station and how crews actually get back down, comparing a capsule with a spaceplane.
Who runs the ISS day to day?
SSA-05 Module 6 covers who runs the ISS minute to minute: the distributed mission control centers, the flight team's roles and how much happens from the ground.
What does spaceflight do to the human body?
SSA-01 Module 6 gives a light preview of how the human body responds to spaceflight, alongside a preview of the Outer Space Treaty.
Is it free, and do I need an account?
Yes. The lessons are free and open to read without an account. There is no accreditation or certificate attached: it is a self-directed curriculum built from primary sources.
How long does it take?
Each module is sized for one sitting, and the module pages estimate 20 to 35 minutes each. All of the modules on this page add up to about 2.9 hours of reading.