Listen
The one-of-a kind Master’s of Human Space Exploration Sciences degree is designed to better equip people to work in the space industry, with NASA or in the private sector. Dr. William Paloski is on loan from NASA to develop this program, which focuses on biomechanics and the impact of space flight on the human body. Paloski says it will help graduates avoid the need for years of on-the-job training out in the real world.
“Having been in a position for a long time of hiring young people to come in and work in the laboratories at the Johnson Space Center, they have no idea about the processes and procedures for taking an experiment from the laboratory and flying it on the space station, for instance.”
Dr. Paloski says an undergraduate degree doesn’t go far enough to prepare people for some jobs. In the space industry it often takes five to ten years of work in a specific area to develop the expertise that’s needed in most space related research and development.
“And what we’re trying to do is to shorten that cycle so that people can come into a job at the Johnson Space Center for instance, and have all that kind of background behind them.”
Paloski says this graduate program is available through the U of H Department of Health and Human Performance, and it will attract students with degrees in biology, physiology, bio-chemistry, bio-medical engineering, and other related fields. Jim Bell, KUHF, Houston Public Radio News.
For more information, visit the article “Students Boldly Go to Grad Program on Space“.