Planetary Sciences (Online) (Taught)

Move into a career in the space industry, whatever your academic background. Join our online Masters degree and study anywhere, at your own pace.

Prepare for a career in the space sector with online MSc Planetary Sciences.
This flexible online degree gives you a pathway into a space industry career, whatever your academic background.

Skills for deep space exploration
Join our outstanding team online and develop the key technical skills needed for deep space exploration, including remote sensing, spectroscopy, and instrument design.
You’ll study the Earth and other objects of the solar system, such as the Moon, Mars, and exoplanets, to understand the critical steps of formation of these objects. You’ll examine the physics of atmospheres, magnetic fields, geomorphology of the surface, isotopic differentiation, and the formation of habitable environments.

Become part of the next wave of lunar and planetary explorers.
You’ll graduate career-ready, with an informed understanding of:

• planetary atmospheres and landforms

• space environment

• remote sensing

• data analysis

• astrobiology, and

• space systems engineering and instrumentation.

Study with an exceptional team
You’ll be joining a university that is actively involved in current and future missions to Mars. We have an instrument on the NASA Curiosity rover, which is exploring Mars’ surface right now – track the rover here.

The European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) ExoMars programme is a series of missions designed to understand if life ever existed on Mars. We’re co-investigators in the ESA’s Trace Gas Orbiter, the first mission in the series, and our HABIT instrument will be part of a future ExoMars mission.

Develop skills for a range of careers
In this degree, you’ll also develop highly transferable knowledge in areas including geology, microbiology, and environmental sciences, applicable to careers outside of planetary science research.

Teaching is delivered through MyAberdeen, our online Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). It holds all the materials, tools and support you’ll need in your studies. You’ll learn from teaching staff who are involved in the Planetary Protection Boards of NASA and ESA, and the Mars Sample Return Scientific Advisory Team. Our team is currently collaborating with Oxford Nanopore Technologies on pioneering Space DNA Sequencing and is also deeply engaged in planetary sciences and astrobiology.

This degree is assessed entirely online. We use a range of assessment methods throughout your studies, including: online presentations, essays, and online quizzes.