Python programming: Microsoft's latest beginners' course looks at developing for NASA projects

Microsoft has teamed up with NASA to create three project-based learning modules that teach entry-level coders how to use the Python programming language and machine-learning algorithms to explore space, classify space rocks and predict weather and rocket-launch delays. Students need a Windows, Mac or Linux computer to complete the modules, which teach the basics of what a programming language is, how to use Microsoft's Visual Studio Code (VS Code) code editor, install extensions for Python, and how to run a basic Jupyter Notebook within VS Code – some of the key ingredients to get started on a machine-learning project. Microsoft's learning modules don't actually teach anything about how to code in Python but rather offer some ideas, focussing on NASA's space exploration activities, to illustrate how Python could be used in space exploration. It might suit students learning to code who need some ideas for how that knowledge could be applied to solving challenges NASA faces, or those considering programming to see how Python could be used. The Introduction to Python for Space Exploration module contains eight units and offers background on NASA's Artemis lunar exploration program, which aims to land the first woman and the next man on the moon by 2024.