Aerospace engineering

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aerospace engineer

NASA engineers in mission control ensure safety

for astronauts onboard Apollo 13.

Occupation

Names Aerospace engineer

Occupation Profession
type

Activity Aeronautics, astronautics, science

sectors

Description

Competencies Technical knowledge, analytical

skills, management skills (see
also glossary of aerospace
 engineering)

Education Bachelor's degree[1][2]

required

Fields of Technology, science, space

employment
exploration, military

Part of a series on

Astrodynamics

Orbital mechanics

show

Orbital elements

show

Types of two-body orbits by

eccentricity

show

Equations

Celestial mechanics

show
 Gravitational influences

show

N-body orbits

Engineering and efficiency

show

Preflight engineering

show

Efficiency measures

show

Propulsive maneuvers

 v
 t
 e

Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with

the development of aircraft and spacecraft.[3] It has two major and
overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering
and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is similar, but deals
with the electronics side of aerospace engineering.

"Aeronautical engineering" was the original term for the field. As flight
technology advanced to include vehicles operating in outer space, the
broader term "aerospace engineering" has come into use.[4] Aerospace
engineering, particularly the astronautics branch, is often colloquially
referred to as "rocket science".[5][a]

Overview
[edit]
Flight vehicles are subjected to demanding conditions such as those
caused by changes in atmospheric pressure and temperature,
with structural loads applied upon vehicle components. Consequently, they
are usually the products of various technological and engineering
disciplines including aerodynamics, air propulsion, avionics, materials
science, structural analysis and manufacturing. The interaction between
these technologies is known as aerospace engineering. Because of the
complexity and number of disciplines involved, aerospace engineering is
carried out by teams of engineers, each having their own specialized area
of expertise.[7]

History
[edit]
See also: History of aviation

Orville and Wilbur Wright flew the Wright Flyer in

1903 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
The origin of aerospace engineering can be traced back to the aviation
pioneers around the late 19th to early 20th centuries, although the work of
Sir George Cayley dates from the last decade of the 18th to the mid-19th
century. One of the most important people in the history of
aeronautics[8] and a pioneer in aeronautical engineering,[9] Cayley is
credited as the first person to separate the forces of lift and drag, which
affect any atmospheric flight vehicle.[10]

Early knowledge of aeronautical engineering was largely empirical, with

some concepts and skills imported from other branches of engineering.
[11]
Some key elements, like fluid dynamics, were understood by 18th-
century scientists.[12]

In December 1903, the Wright Brothers performed the first sustained,

controlled flight of a powered, heavier-than-air aircraft, lasting 12 seconds.
The 1910s saw the development of aeronautical engineering through the
design of World War I military aircraft.
World War I
[edit]
In 1914, Robert Goddard was granted two U.S. patents for rockets using
solid fuel, liquid fuel, multiple propellant charges, and multi-stage designs.
[13]
This would set the stage for future applications in multi-stage propulsion
systems for outer space.

On March 3, 1915, the U.S. Congress established the first aeronautical

research administration, known then as the National Advisory Committee
for Aeronautics, or NACA.[14] It was the first government-sponsored
organization to support aviation research.[15] Though intended as an
advisory board upon inception, the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory
became its first sponsored research and testing facility in 1920.[16]

Between World Wars I and II, great leaps were made in the field,
accelerated by the advent of mainstream civil aviation. Notable airplanes of
this era include the Curtiss JN 4, Farman F.60 Goliath, and Fokker
Trimotor. Notable military airplanes of this period include the Mitsubishi
A6M Zero, Supermarine Spitfire and Messerschmitt Bf 109 from Japan,
United Kingdom, and Germany respectively. A significant development
came with the first operational Jet engine-powered airplane,
the Messerschmitt Me 262 which entered service in 1944 towards the end
of the Second World War.[17]

The first definition of aerospace engineering appeared in February 1958,

[4]
considering the Earth's atmosphere and outer space as a single realm,
thereby encompassing both aircraft (aero) and spacecraft (space) under
the newly coined term aerospace.
Cold War
[edit]
In response to the USSR launching the first satellite, Sputnik, into space on
October 4, 1957, U.S. aerospace engineers launched the first American
satellite on January 31, 1958. The National Aeronautics and Space
Administration was founded in 1958 after the Sputnik crisis. In 1969, Apollo
11, the first human space mission to the Moon, took place. It saw
three astronauts enter orbit around the Moon, with two, Neil
Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, visiting the lunar surface. The third
astronaut, Michael Collins, stayed in orbit to rendezvous with Armstrong
and Aldrin after their visit.[18]

A F/A-18F Super Hornet in flight, 2008

An important innovation came on January 30, 1970, when the Boeing
747 made its first commercial flight from New York to London. This aircraft
made history and became known as the "Jumbo Jet" or "Whale"[19] due to
its ability to hold up to 480 passengers.[20]
1976: First passenger supersonic aircraft
[edit]
Another significant development came in 1976, with the development of the
first passenger supersonic aircraft, the Concorde. The development of this
aircraft was agreed upon by the French and British on November 29, 1962.
[21]

On December 21, 1988, the Antonov An-225 Mriya cargo aircraft

commenced its first flight. It holds the records for the world's heaviest
aircraft, heaviest airlifted cargo, and longest airlifted cargo, and has the
widest wingspan of any aircraft in operational service.[22]

On October 25, 2007, the Airbus A380 made its maiden commercial flight
from Singapore to Sydney, Australia. This aircraft was the first passenger
plane to surpass the Boeing 747 in terms of passenger capacity, with a
maximum of 853. Though development of this aircraft began in 1988 as a
competitor to the 747, the A380 made its first test flight in April 2005.[23]

Elements
[edit]
 Wernher von Braun, with the F-1 engines of
the Saturn V first stage at the US Space and Rocket Center

Soyuz TMA-14M spacecraft engineered for

descent by parachute A fighter jet engine

undergoing testing. The tunnel behind the engine allows noise and exhaust
to escape.
See also: List of aerospace engineering topics
Some of the elements of aerospace engineering are:[24][25]

 Radar cross-section – the study of vehicle signature apparent to remote

sensing by radar.
 Fluid mechanics – the study of fluid flow around objects.
Specifically aerodynamics concerning the flow of air over bodies such
as wings or through objects such as wind tunnels (see
also lift and aeronautics).
 Astrodynamics – the study of orbital mechanics including prediction of
orbital elements when given a select few variables. While few schools in
the United States teach this at the undergraduate level, several have
graduate programs covering this topic (usually in conjunction with the
Physics department of said college or university).
 Statics and Dynamics (engineering mechanics) – the study of
movement, forces, moments in mechanical systems.
 Mathematics – in particular, calculus, differential equations, and linear
algebra.
 Electrotechnology – the study of electronics within engineering.
 Propulsion – the energy to move a vehicle through the air (or in outer
space) is provided by internal combustion engines, jet
engines and turbomachinery, or rockets (see
also propeller and spacecraft propulsion). A more recent addition to this
module is electric propulsion and ion propulsion.
 Control engineering – the study of mathematical modeling of
the dynamic behavior of systems and designing them, usually using
feedback signals, so that their dynamic behavior is desirable (stable,
without large excursions, with minimum error). This applies to the
dynamic behavior of aircraft, spacecraft, propulsion systems, and
subsystems that exist on aerospace vehicles.
 Aircraft structures – design of the physical configuration of the craft to
withstand the forces encountered during flight. Aerospace engineering
aims to keep structures lightweight and low-cost while maintaining
structural integrity.[26]
 Materials science – related to structures, aerospace engineering also
studies the materials of which the aerospace structures are to be built.
New materials with very specific properties are invented, or existing
ones are modified to improve their performance.
 Solid mechanics – Closely related to material science is solid mechanics
which deals with stress and strain analysis of the components of the
vehicle. Nowadays there are several Finite Element programs such as
MSC Patran/Nastran which aid engineers in the analytical process.
 Aeroelasticity – the interaction of aerodynamic forces and structural
flexibility, potentially causing flutter, divergence, etc.
 Avionics – the design and programming of computer systems on board
an aircraft or spacecraft and the simulation of systems.
 Software – the specification, design, development, test, and
implementation of computer software for aerospace applications,
 including flight software, ground control software, test & evaluation
software, etc.
 Risk and reliability – the study of risk and reliability assessment
techniques and the mathematics involved in the quantitative methods.
 Noise control – the study of the mechanics of sound transfer.
 Aeroacoustics – the study of noise generation via either turbulent fluid
motion or aerodynamic forces interacting with surfaces.
 Flight testing – designing and executing flight test programs in order to
gather and analyze performance and handling qualities data in order to
determine if an aircraft meets its design and performance goals and
certification requirements.
The basis of most of these elements lies in theoretical physics, such
as fluid dynamics for aerodynamics or the equations of motion for flight
dynamics. There is also a large empirical component. Historically, this
empirical component was derived from testing of scale models and
prototypes, either in wind tunnels or in the free atmosphere. More recently,
advances in computing have enabled the use of computational fluid
dynamics to simulate the behavior of the fluid, reducing time and expense
spent on wind-tunnel testing. Those studying hydrodynamics
or hydroacoustics often obtain degrees in aerospace engineering.

Additionally, aerospace engineering addresses the integration of all

components that constitute an aerospace vehicle (subsystems including
power, aerospace bearings, communications, thermal control, life support
system, etc.) and its life cycle (design, temperature,
pressure, radiation, velocity, lifetime).

Degree programs
[edit]
Main article: List of aerospace engineering schools
Aerospace engineering may be studied at the advanced
diploma, bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. levels in aerospace engineering
departments at many universities, and in mechanical
engineering departments at others. A few departments offer degrees in
space-focused astronautical engineering. Some institutions differentiate
between aeronautical and astronautical engineering. Graduate degrees are
offered in advanced or specialty areas for the aerospace industry.
A background in chemistry, physics, computer science and mathematics is
important for students pursuing an aerospace engineering degree.[27]

In popular culture
[edit]
The term "rocket scientist" is sometimes used to describe a person of
great intelligence since rocket science is seen as a practice requiring great
mental ability, especially technically and mathematically. The term is used
ironically in the expression "It's not rocket science" to indicate that a task is
simple.[28] Strictly speaking, the use of "science" in "rocket science" is a
misnomer since science is about understanding the origins, nature, and
behavior of the universe; engineering is about using scientific and
engineering principles to solve problems and develop new technology.[5]
[6]
The more etymologically correct version of this phrase would be "rocket
engineer". However, "science" and "engineering" are often misused as
synonyms.[5][6][29]