Astrophysicist Marla Geha’s new Yale Online course about rocket science is, ahem, skyrocketing in popularity.
Yale astrophysicist Marla Geha was visiting U.S. Space Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado, appropriately enough, when she realized she needed to take her rocket science class global.
Geha, a professor of astronomy and of physics in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, was touring Space Command last year with other academics as part of a fact-finding mission to see if there were common science problems that academia and the military were working on. While there, she spoke with a lieutenant general about ASTRO160 — a Yale course for non-science majors that delves into the basics of black holes, dark matter, exoplanets, and the ever-expanding number of satellites being shot into space.
Intrigued, the lieutenant general confided to Geha that he wished every member of his own team had taken a class like ASTRO160.
“That was the spark,” Geha said. “I thought that if Space Command didn’t have a good intro to rocket science class, then perhaps I could make mine available to help fill a gap.”
Mission accomplished. Geha’s free, Yale Online course, called “Rocket Science for Everyone,” debuted over the summer and became an immediate hit. More than 10,000 people enrolled in the course in its first two weeks, and more than 12,500 people have now taken it.
Yale offers a broad range of online courses in the humanities, sciences, and social sciences, working with Yale faculty. These courses, including both degree programs from professional schools and non-degree programs, are available on multiple platforms, including Coursera, YouTube, and Canvas.
“Rocket Science for Everyone,” for example, is a Coursera course that is available on demand, for free. It takes about five-hours to complete.
Aside from the catchy name and a breezy wit that infuses the lessons, “Rocket Science for Everyone,” produced by the Yale Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning, boasts a deep knowledge of the essential role that rockets and space satellites now play in modern life.
There are more than 10,000 satellites orbiting the planet, with more coming online every month. The vast majority of them are in low-Earth orbit, Geha said, or “roughly 200 to 300 miles over our heads.”
These orbiting satellites timestamp financial transactions. Weather forecasts, traffic reports, broadband Internet, ATM withdrawals, GPS-enabled farm tractors — even smartphone requests to find the nearest pizza joint — depend on them. Geha’s online course covers all of it.
“I can finally understand with clarity how satellites and rockets work, and what space and the orbital regions around Earth are like,” one student wrote after taking the course. “I love how Professor Geha stuck to info that is pertinent to our lives and interesting.”
In fact, “Rocket Science for Everyone” has made enough of an impact that other Yale faculty members are taking notice.
“This is an invaluable, readily accessible resource for non-technologists seeking to better understand modern civilization’s increasing dependence on satellites and outer space in general,” said Ted Wittenstein, a senior lecturer in global affairs and director of the Schmidt Program on Artificial Intelligence, Emerging Technologies, and National Power at the Jackson School of Global Affairs.
Next spring, when he teaches “The Space Domain and Global Security,” a new course developed at the Jackson School by the Schmidt Program in collaboration with Yale ROTC, Wittenstein will assign portions of Geha’s online course.
If those students start at the beginning of “Rocket Science for Everyone,” they’ll see Geha play with an animated ball.
“The first 30 seconds of the course are important, because when people hear the words ‘rocket science’ there’s perhaps an assumption that this will be too complicated,” she said. “So, I begin by dropping a ball and then throwing it. It sends a message to people that they’re going to be able to understand this. And in the process, I’ve hooked them.”
It’s a simple, ingenious way to introduce concepts such as orbit, horizontal velocity (the speed needed for an object to orbit Earth, while still being pulled by Earth’s gravity), and escape velocity (the speed needed to break free from Earth’s gravity).
The five-hour course builds from there to include rocket types, payloads, satellite networks, the proliferation of space “junk,” GPS technology, the concept of free fall, the extreme temperatures involved in achieving and remaining in orbit — and much more — all delivered with an enthusiastic flair and a sense of fun.
Geha explains Newton’s Laws of Motion, describes the three types of orbit where satellites reside (low-Earth orbit, medium-Earth orbit, and geosynchronous orbit), and teaches students the many differences between airplanes and rockets.
She also takes a few minutes to share “The Rocket Equation” (which she calls one of her top three favorite equations). The Rocket Equation, derived by Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, describes the maximum speed a rocket can achieve.
Preparing for launch
Much like the rockets themselves, “Rocket Science for Everyone” arrived in stages.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, when Yale temporarily moved its classes online as a public health precaution, Geha retooled the always-popular ASTRO160 course for Zoom. That experience gave her valuable insights — and confidence — that she could take the rocket science elements of the class and try her hand at a Yale Online course.
“I thought I’d come in, do my usual lectures in front of a camera, and leave,” she said with a chuckle. “That was naïve. My first attempt had so many ‘ums’ and “uhs” that I really hope they destroyed the video.”
But she persisted. Working with her “dream team” from the Poorvu Center — course producers Jasmine Taylor and Belinda Platt and video producer Doug Forbush — Geha found her on-camera style and honed her message.
“She has a great sense of humor, and you can see that on the screen,” Taylor said. “Anything we suggested, she was open to it.”
For example, Geha shared the fact that she bakes a cake for any of her grad students who get an academic study published — decorated with a graph or equation (in icing) from the study. She was also diligent in removing jargon from her presentations and making the mathematical components of the course as easy-to-comprehend as possible, Platt noted.
“She’s a natural on camera and passionate about her subject matter,” said Forbush, who created an array of animations for the class. “People respond to her delivery.”
Geha’s experience with “Rocket Science for Everyone” went so well she’s mulling over the idea of a follow-up class. “I am considering taking it one level up and offering a more advanced class on orbital dynamics,” she said.
This story is adapted from the Yale News story of October 9, 2024 by Jim Shelton.