Aerospace and mechanical engineering use physics to design machines that solve practical problems involving motion. Mechanical engineering designs everyday objects, while aerospace engineering extends mechanical engineering techniques to include systems that interact with moving fluids. Aeronautical engineering designs manned and unmanned aircraft, while astronautical engineering deals with machines operating outside the atmosphere.
Aerospace and mechanical engineering are concerned with designing machines to solve practical problems involving motion. The field gained momentum during the Industrial Revolution and is now widespread throughout human civilization. Using the principles of physics, an aerospace or mechanical engineer can manipulate materials and energy to achieve certain human goals that require mechanized systems. The term aerospace usually refers to airplanes, helicopters, and atmospheric rockets, but can also include spacecraft. Aerospace engineering extends mechanical engineering techniques to include systems that interact with moving fluids such as air or water.
Various inventors since classical antiquity have experimented with mechanical systems. The Industrial Revolution, which showed the most dramatic changes during the 19th century, gave the field of mechanical engineering a more solid foundation. Machines capable of extracting energy from coal and oil were soon in great demand. The brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright, who were American inventors, are generally considered to be the first to create a working airplane in 1903. Since then, the field of aerospace and mechanical engineering has had a great influence on most societies.
Mechanical engineering deals primarily with how matter and energy behave in the everyday environment. It’s based on physics, but its purpose is to solve practical problems rather than discovering the laws of nature. Mechanical engineers design everyday objects and tools that have some function that involves movement; cars, drills and industrial machines are some examples. Aerospace engineering extends the practice of mechanical engineering into new domains.
When aerospace and mechanical engineering is restricted to operating in the Earth’s atmosphere, the term aeronautical engineering is often used. Aeronautical engineers design manned and unmanned aircraft. Manned planes and helicopters generally require very high safety standards, and there is a lot of aeronautical engineering work required to make these systems safe. Unmanned aircraft – which include missiles, military drones and weather balloons – are generally more experimental in nature. Engineers working on these systems often apply aerospace and mechanical engineering knowledge to achieve new goals in the atmosphere.
Manned and unmanned systems operating outside the atmosphere are sometimes considered in the field of aerospace and mechanical engineering. Other times, these engineering activities are referred to as astronautical engineering. Astronautical engineering is related to aeronautical engineering because all artificial objects in space have passed through the atmosphere in rockets. Likewise, every machine that went into space and returned safely to the surface had to navigate through the atmosphere like an aircraft. Astronautical engineering generally shares much of the underlying physics and technology with mechanical engineering, even if the environments in question are very different.
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