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aerospace engineering: Quick Facts

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The engine parts that 'fight the laws of the universe' • Nov. 5, 2026, 7:06 PM ET (BBC)

Facts

Also Known As aeronautical engineering • astronautical engineering

Photos and Videos

nanosatellite
Witness X1-E taking off under a B-29 from Edwards Air Force Base, California
X-15 rocket-powered research aircraft launching from beneath the wing of a U.S. Air Force B-52.
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Key People

Theodore von Kármán
Theodore von Kármán
American engineer
Jack Parsons
Jack Parsons
American rocket scientist and chemist
Photograph of Satish Dhawan
Satish Dhawan
Indian aerospace engineer and space scientist
A photograph of Igor Sikorsky holding a model aircraft.
Igor Sikorsky
American engineer
Wernher von Braun
Wernher von Braun
German engineer
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Charles Stark Draper
American engineer
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
president of India
Robert Goddard
Robert Goddard
American professor and inventor
Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin Eduardovich
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
Russian scientist
Qian Xuesen
Qian Xuesen
Chinese scientist
Stephanie Wilson
Stephanie Wilson
American astronaut
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Michael Griffin
American aerospace engineer
Burt Rutan
Burt Rutan
American aircraft and spacecraft designer
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Hermann Oberth
German scientist
Samuel P. Langley.
Samuel Pierpont Langley
American engineer and astrophysicist
Annadurai, Mylswamy
Mylswamy Annadurai
Indian aerospace engineer
Mary Jackson
Mary Jackson
American mathematician and engineer
Octave Chanute
Octave Chanute
American engineer
Bruce McCandless II
Bruce McCandless
American naval aviator and astronaut
George Low
George Low
Austrian-born American aerospace engineer