M.S. in Astronautical Engineering
The Master of Science in Astronautical Engineering is designed for
those with B.S. degrees in science and engineering who desire to work
in the space sector of the aerospace industry, government research and
development centers, and laboratories. In some cases the applicant
may be required to take 1 or 2 deficiency courses (upper-division
undergraduate courses). The decision to require deficiency courses is
made by the Astronautics program coordinators.
Most classes for the M.S. are available through the
USC Distance Education Network (DEN).
Admission to the M.S. program
requires the general portion of the
Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) and two letters of recommendation.
Completion of the degree requires
27 units of coursework chosen according to the requirements below.
| CORE REQUIREMENT (6 UNITS) |
UNITS |
|
ASTE 520 |
Spacecraft System Design |
3 |
|
ASTE 535 |
Spacecraft Environments and Spacecraft Interaction |
3 |
| CORE ELECTIVE REQUIREMENT (CHOOSE ONE) |
UNITS |
|
ASTE 470 |
Spacecraft Propulsion |
3 |
|
ASTE 523 |
Design of Low Cost Space Missions |
3 |
|
ASTE 552 |
Spacecraft Thermal Control |
3 |
|
ASTE 553 |
Systems for Remote Sensing from Space |
3 |
|
ASTE 556 |
Spacecraft Structural Dynamics |
3 |
|
ASTE 580 |
Orbital Mechanics I |
3 |
|
ASTE 581 |
Orbital Mechanics II |
3 |
|
ASTE 583 |
Space Navigation: Principles and Practice |
3 |
|
ASTE 584 |
Spacecraft Power Systems |
3 |
|
ASTE 585 |
Spacecraft Attitude Control |
3 |
|
ASTE 586 |
Spacecraft Attitude Dynamics |
3 |
|
ASTE 599 |
Special Topics |
3 |
| RECOMMENDED TECHNICAL ELECTIVES |
UNITS |
|
ASTE 501ab |
Physical Gas Dynamics |
3-3 |
|
ASTE 527 |
Space Exploration Architectures Concept Synthesis Studio |
3 |
|
ASTE 541 |
Partially Ionized Plasmas |
3 |
|
ASTE 545 |
Computational Techniques in Rarefied Gas Dynamics |
3 |
|
AME 511 |
Compressible Gas Dynamics |
3 |
|
SAE 549a |
Systems Architecting |
3 |
TECHNICAL ELECTIVE REQUIREMENT (12 UNITS)
Four 3-unit courses. It is advisable to select these
four elective courses from the list of core electives above
or from the list of recommended technical electives above.
No more than 3 units of directed research (ASTE 590)
can be applied to the 27-unit requirement.
New courses on emerging space technologies are often
offered; consult each semester's course offerings,
particularly for ASTE 599, Special Topics.
| ENGINEERING MATHEMATICS REQUIREMENT (6 UNITS) |
UNITS |
|
AME 525 |
Engineering Analysis |
3 |
|
AME 526 |
Engineering Analytical Methods |
3 |
At least 21 units must be at the 500 or 600 level.
