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Aerospace engineers design, test, and
supervise the manufacture of aircraft, spacecraft, and missiles. In addition, they create and test prototypes to make sure that they function according to design.
Aerospace engineers develop new technologies for use in
aviation, defense systems, and space exploration, often specializing in
areas such as aerodynamic fluid flow; structural design; guidance, navigation, and control; instrumentation and communication; robotics; and propulsion and combustion. They also may
specialize in a particular type of aerospace product, such as commercial
aircraft, military fighter jets, helicopters, spacecraft, or missiles and
rockets, and may become experts in aerodynamics, thermodynamics, celestial
mechanics, propulsion, acoustics, or guidance and control systems.
Aerospace engineers typically are employed in the aerospace product and
parts industry, although their skills are becoming increasingly valuable in
other fields. For example, in the motor vehicles manufacturing industry,
aerospace engineers design vehicles that have lower air resistance and,
thus, increased fuel efficiency. Aerospace engineers often become experts in one or more related fields: aerodynamics, thermodynamics, materials, celestial mechanics, flight mechanics, propulsion, acoustics, and guidance and control systems.
Aerospace engineers typically specialize in one of two types of engineering: aeronautical or astronautical. Aeronautical engineers work with aircraft. They are involved primarily in designing aircraft and propulsion systems and in studying the aerodynamic performance of aircraft and construction materials. They work with the theory, technology, and practice of flight within the Earth's atmosphere. Astronautical engineers work with the science and technology of spacecraft and how they perform inside and outside the Earth's atmosphere. This includes work on small satellites such as cubesats, and traditional large satellites. Aeronautical and astronautical engineers face different environmental and operational issues in designing aircraft and spacecraft. However, the two fields overlap a great deal because they both depend on the basic principles of physics.
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Aerospace Engineering Resources
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Online
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Overview:
Overview of Aerospace Engineering
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Preparation:
Admission Requirements, Alternate Degree Paths, Graduate Programs,
Accredited Programs
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Day in the Life:
Teams and Coworkers, Tasks, the Workplace
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Earnings:
Employer Options, Salary Ranges, Types of Employers
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Employment:
Statistics, Industries, Employers
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Career Path Forecast:
Predictions
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Professional Organizations:
Resources, Networking, Support
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Internet
Resources:
 American Institute of Aeronautics and
Astronautics (AIAA)
AIAA Ask an Engineer
AIAA History of
Aerospace
Aerospace
and Electronics Systems Society of the IEEE
Aerospace
Industries Association
American Astronautical
Society
NASA
NASA
Explorer Schools Program
Society of
Flight Test Engineers
US Department of Commerce
Aerospace Profile
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Note: Some resources in this section are provided by the US
Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
Statistics. Photos are courtesy of NASA.
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