Introduction to Aerospace Engineering

Over many years, aerospace, one of the major contributors to the global economy, has been helping humans push exploration boundaries and explore the universe using state-of-the-art technologies developed by human ingenuity and bravery. Through the application of science and engineering principles, aerospace has enabled humans to design and develop aircraft, spacecraft, missiles, rovers, landers, and a host of others.

Early ideas and innovations in aerospace are credited to aerospace pioneers such as George Cayley, Jules Henri Giffard, Charles Renard, Arthur Constantin Krebs, Ferdinand von Zeppelin, Wright Brothers, and a host of others. In 1799, George Cayley proposed an aircraft with a “fixed wing and a horizontal and vertical tail”. In 1852, Henri Giffard flew the first steerable steam-powered airship, and in December 1903, the Wright brothers performed the first sustained, controlled flight of a powered, heavier-than-air aircraft, lasting 12 seconds. Since the early period, a lot of aerospace inventions and innovations have been developed for the betterment of humanity. Various aerospace technologies developed have been applied on Earth for human uses.

The use of rocket engines for aircraft propulsion opened a new realm of flight to the aeronautical engineer. Robert H. Goddard, an American, developed, built, and flew the first successful liquid-propellant rocket on March 16, 1926. In 1947, Wyld’s rocket engine powered the first supersonic research aircraft, the Bell X-1.

In 1957, the U.S.S.R. orbited Sputnik I, the world’s first artificial satellite, which triggered a space exploration race with the United States. In 1961, U.S. President John F. Kennedy recommended to Congress to undertake the challenge of “landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth” by the end of the 1960s. This commitment came into reality on July 20, 1969, when astronauts Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., landed on the Moon.

In the “Introduction to Aerospace Engineering” Course you will learn about Aerospace Engineering, Evolution of Aerospace Engineering, Careers in Aerospace Engineering, Current trends in Aerospace Engineering, Real-World Applications of Aerospace Engineering, and Contributions of Aerospace Engineering to the Society.