page_title: Aerospace engineering
section_title: Elements
hierarchical_section_title: Aerospace engineering / Elements
caption_attribution_description: Afrikaans: Op 12 Maart 2015, kort ná die plaaslike sonsopkoms oor Sentraal-Asië, het hierdie Sojoes TMA-14M ruimtetuig met 'n valskerm neergedaal oor 'n see van goudkleurige wolke in planeet Aarde se digte atmosfeer. Aan boord was Ekspedisie 42 se bevelvoerder Barry Wilmore van NASA, en Alexander Samokoetjaef en Elena Serowa van die Russiese Federale Ruimte-agentskap, Roscosmos. Aardkontak was om ongeveer 10:07 nm OAT (8:07 vm op 12 Maart, Kasak-tyd) suidoos van Zhezkazgan in Kasakstan. Die drie het ná sowat ses maande op die Internasionale Ruimtestasie teruggekeer van die lae Aardbaan as lede van die Ekspedisie 41 en 42-spanne. Bosanski: Neposredno nakon izlaska sunca na centralnom Azijom, 12. marta 2015, letjelica Soyuz TMA-14M lebdjela je iznad mora zlatnih oblaka tokom svog spuštanja pomoću padobrana kroz gustu Zemljinu atmosferu, da bi se spustila u Kazahstanu. Čeština: Dne 12. dubna roku 2015, krátce po východu slunce, sestup přistávacího modulu kosmické lodi Sojuz TMA-14M pomocí padáků ve výšce nad mraky před přistáním v Kazachstánu, ve střední Asii. English: On March 12, 2015, shortly after local sunrise over central Asia, this Soyuz TMA-14M spacecraft floated over a sea of golden clouds during its descent by parachute through planet Earth's dense atmosphere. On board were Expedition 42 commander Barry Wilmore of NASA and Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos). Touch down was at approximately 10:07 p.m. EDT (8:07 a.m. March 12, Kazakh time) southeast of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan. The three were returning from low Earth orbit, after almost six months on the International Space Station as members of the Expedition 41 and Expedition 42 crews. Español: El módulo de descenso de la Soyuz TMA-14M y su paracaídas, por encima de las nubes de la estepa kazaja, antes de aterrizar el 12 de marzo de 2015. Français&#160;: Le module de descente de Soyouz TMA-14M et son parachute, au-dessus des nuages de la steppe kazakhe, avant son atterrissage, le 12 mars 2015. Magyar: A Szojuz TMA–14M ejtőernyős ereszkedése a Föld sűrű légkörében az arany felhők tengere felett 2015. március 12-én, röviddel napkelte után a kazahsztáni földet érés előtt. Italiano: La Sojuz TMA-14M il 12 marzo 2015 sopra l'Asia centrale durante il rientro per l'atteraggio in Kazakistan. 한국어: 2015년 3월 12일 중앙 아시아 지방의 해가 떠오른 직후, 카자흐스탄에 착륙하기 위해 행성 지구의 짙은 대기를 낙하산으로 하강 중이던 소유스 TMA-14M 우주선이 금빛 구름의 바다 위로 떠올랐다. Nederlands: Het ruimtevaartuig van Sojoez TMA-14M boven Kazachstan, vlak voor de landing op 12 maart 2015. Português: A cápsula espacial da Soyuz TMA-14M sobrevoa a Ásia Central durante o seu retorno à Terra em 12 de março de 2015. Русский: Спускаемый аппарат космического корабля «Союз ТМА-14М» находится в плотных слоях атмосферы над облаками, подсвеченными восходящим Солнцем, и опускается на парашюте к поверхности Земли. В этом спускаемом аппарате 12 марта 2015 года вернулись на Землю космонавты — командир 42 экспедиции на Международную космическую станцию Барри Уилмор (Barry Wilmore) (США), российские космонавты Александр Самоктяев и Елена Серова. Они провели на орбите почти шесть месяцев, побывав участниками 41-й и 42-й экспедиции на МКС. Снимок сделан 12 марта 2015 года примерно в 02:07 UTC (8:07 по местному времени) к юго-востоку от города Жезказган, Казахстан. Português: A cápsula espacial da Soyuz TMA-14M sobrevoa a Ásia Central durante o seu retorno à Terra em 12 de março de 2015.
context_page_description: Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. 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 common use. Aerospace engineering, particularly the astronautics branch, is often colloquially referred to as "rocket science".
context_section_description: Some of the elements of aerospace engineering are:
  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.
  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 integrat
caption: Soyuz TMA-14M spacecraft engineered for descent by parachute
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