Aerospace engineering
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Aerospace engineering is the branch of engineering that concerns the design, construction and science behind aircraft and spacecraft. Aerospace engineering has broken into two major branches, aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. The former deals with craft that stay within Earth's atmosphere, and the latter deals with craft that operate outside of Earth's atmosphere. While "aeronautical" was the original term, the broader "aerospace" has superseded the it in usage, as flight technology advanced to include craft operating in outer space.[1] Aerospace engineering is often informally called rocket science in common terms. 
OverviewModern flight vehicles must undergo severe conditions such as differences in atmospheric pressure and temperature, or heavy structural load applied upon vehicle components; numerous matters must be taken into account, especially during the design and manufacture of the flight vehicle. Consequently, they are usually the products of a complex synthesis of various technologies and sciences, including but not limited to aerodynamics, avionics, materials science and propulsion. The knowledge and the process of combining these various branches of studies is collectively known as aerospace engineering. Because of the complexity of the field, aerospace engineering is conducted by a team of engineers, each specializing in their own branches of science.,[2] The development and manufacturing of a flight vehicle demands careful balance and compromise between abilities, performance, available technology and costs. History
One person who was important in bringing up the world of aviation as we know it was Alberto Santos Dumont, a pioneer in the field of aviation, who built the first machines that were able to fly. Some of the first ideas for powered flight may have come from Leonardo da Vinci, who, although he did not build any successful models, did come up with many sketches and ideas for "flying machines". 
The origin of modern-day aerospace engineering can be traced back to the aviation pioneers around the late 19th century to early 20th centuries, although the work of Sir George Cayley has recently been dated as being from the last decade of the 18th century. Early knowledge of aeronautical engineering was largely empirical with some concepts and skills imported from other branches of engineering.[3] Also, scientists understood some key elements of aerospace engineering , like fluid dynamics, in the 18th century. Only a decade after the successful flights by the Wright brothers, the 1910s saw extensive development of aeronautical engineering through development of World War I military aircraft. Meanwhile, research to provide fundamental background science continued by combining theoretical physics with experiments. The first definition of aerospace engineering appeared in February 1958.[1] The definition considered the Earth's atmosphere and the outer space as a single realm, thereby encompassing both aircraft (aero) and spacecraft (space) under a newly coined word aerospace. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration was founded in 1958 as a response to the Cold War. United States aerospace engineers sent the American first satellite launched on January 31, 1958 in response the USSR launching Sputnik.[4]
Elements
Some of the elements of aerospace engineering are:[5][6]
The basis of most of these elements lies in theoretical mathematics, such as fluid dynamics for aerodynamics or the equations of motion for flight dynamics. However, 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 fluid, reducing time and expense spent on wind-tunnel testing. Additionally, aerospace engineering addresses the integration of all components that constitute an aerospace vehicle (subsystems including power, communications, thermal control, life support, etc.) and its life cycle (design, temperature, pressure, radiation, velocity, life time), leading to extraordinary challenges and solutions specific to the domain of aerospace systems engineering. Popular cultureImage:Apollo 13 Mailbox at Mission Control.jpg
Actual NASA engineers, like the ones depicted in Apollo 13, worked dilligently to save the lives of the astronauts on the mission.
Popular culture has not been unaffected by this branch of engineering. The term "rocket scientist" is at times used to describe a person of remarkable or in the considered context higher than average intelligence. Aerospace engineering has also been represented as the more "glittery" pinnacle of engineering. The movie Apollo 13 depicts the ground team as a group of heroes in a Hollywood fashion glorifying the intelligence and competence of white shirt and tie professionals as a sharp contrast to pop culture trends. This was later extended in more detail in the spin-off series From the Earth to the Moon. Aerospace engineering degrees
Aerospace (or aeronautical) engineering can be studied at the advanced diploma, bachelors, masters, 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.[6] US News and World Report ranks the aerospace engineering programs at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology, and University of Michigan as the top three best of doctorate granting universities.[7] The magazine also rates Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, United States Air Force Academy, and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, AZ as the premier aerospace engineering programs at university that do not grant doctorate degrees.[8] Aerospace engineers
Image:Ben Rich.jpg
An aerospace engineer for Lockheed Martin, Ben Rich headed the secretive Skunk Works division of the company. Under his direction, Skunk Works produced the F-117 Nighthawk and many other projects.
According to the United States Department of Labor,
Earnings for engineers vary significantly by specialty, industry, and education. Even so, as a group, engineers earn some of the highest average starting salaries among those holding bachelor’s degrees. Aerospace Engineers on average have a starting salary of $50,701 for 2005.[10] References
See also At Wikiversity you can learn more and teach others about Aerospace engineering at:
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