The MSE degree is the primary master's degree offered in our department and provides students with a more in-depth knowledge of aerospace engineering topics beyond what is covered in the BSE program. The MSE is a coursework-based degree, with some research opportunities for those master's students who are interested. The program typically takes three to four terms to complete (excluding summer, when no graduate courses are offered). A subset of faculty members in Aerodynamics and Propulsion and Dynamics and Controls develop spacecraft and advanced spacecraft subsystems such as propulsion and control systems. Experimental and computational studies center around spacecraft electric propulsion (EP) systems, such as Hall thrusters. Michigan is developing 10-W EP systems that are small enough to fit on a chip for cubesat propulsion, and 200-kW thrusters that are large enough to drive piloted missions to asteroids and Mars. Cubesats in orbit around Earth are currently used to observe plasmas in the atmosphere that are known to disrupt satellite communication with Earth.