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Aerospace Engineer
Designs aircraft, spacecraft, satellites, and missiles.
Did you know?
The Apollo 11 guidance computer ran at about 2 MHz with roughly 4 KB of working memory, a tiny fraction of the power in a modern phone.
How subjects help
- Mathematics: Plot the path a satellite follows around the Earth and when to fire its engines.
- Physics: Work out lift, drag and thrust so a plane can take off and stay in the air.
- Computer Science: Run computer simulations of air flowing over a wing before anything is built.
- Engineering: Design light wings and fuel tanks strong enough to survive launch and landing.
A famous name
Mary Jackson: Became NASA's first Black female engineer in 1958, studying air flow over aircraft in wind tunnels.
Try it yourself: Design a base on Mars
- List what people need to stay alive: air, water, food, warmth, and protection from radiation.
- Mars has thin air you can't breathe, freezing nights and dust storms. Decide how your base solves each problem.
- Draw your base and label where each need is met.
- What happens if one part breaks? Add a backup.
Space engineers design around every need, then plan backups, because help is months away.
Also try: Measure your sensor delay.
Known for it in
USA, France, Germany, UK, Canada