Engineering

AEROSPACE

Defying Gravity

Aerospace engineering deals with the design, development, testing, and production of aircraft, spacecraft, and propulsion systems. It operates at the extreme limits of physics—where air becomes a solid wall and heat can melt steel.

Aero (Earth)
Astro (Space)
[Image of forces on an aircraft in flight]

Aerodynamics

Fluid dynamics. How air flows around objects to generate Lift and Drag.

Propulsion

Engines. Jet turbines, rocket nozzles, and ion thrusters. Newton's 3rd Law.

Avionics

The nervous system. Sensors, communications, and fly-by-wire control systems.

Orbital Mechanics

Astrodynamics. Trajectories, Hohmann transfers, and the gravity well.

WIND_TUNNEL

FLOW: STABLE
LIFT
Angle of Attack (α)0°
Lift Coeff.
0.20
Drag Coeff.
0.01

The pilot must balance angle. Too low = no lift. Too high = stall (separation of airflow).

The De Laval Nozzle

The secret to supersonic exhaust. By narrowing the throat (converging) and then widening it (diverging), rocket engines convert high pressure heat into high velocity thrust.