This is an alphabetical list of articles pertaining specifically to aerospace engineering. For a broad overview of engineering, see List of engineering topics. For biographies, see List of engineers.

A

* Ablative laser propulsion — * Absolute value — *

Acceleration In mechanics, acceleration is the rate of change of the velocity of an object with respect to time. Accelerations are vector quantities (in that they have magnitude and direction). The orientation of an object's acceleration is given by t ...

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Action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

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Advanced Space Vision System The Advanced Space Vision System (also known as the Space Vision System or SVS) is a computer vision system designed primarily for International Space Station (ISS) assembly. The system uses regular 2D cameras in the Space Shuttle bay, on the Cana ...

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Aeroacoustics Aeroacoustics is a branch of acoustics that studies noise generation via either turbulent fluid motion or aerodynamic forces interacting with surfaces. Noise generation can also be associated with periodically varying flows. A notable example of th ...

— * Aerobrake — *

Aerobraking Aerobraking is a spaceflight maneuver that reduces the high point of an elliptical orbit ( apoapsis) by flying the vehicle through the atmosphere at the low point of the orbit ( periapsis). The resulting drag slows the spacecraft. Aerobraking ...

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Aerocapture Aerocapture is an orbital transfer maneuver in which a spacecraft uses aerodynamic drag force from a single pass through a planetary atmosphere to decelerate and achieve orbit insertion. Aerocapture uses a planet's or moon's atmosphere to accom ...

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Aerodynamics Aerodynamics, from grc, ἀήρ ''aero'' (air) + grc, δυναμική (dynamics), is the study of the motion of air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dy ...

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Aeroelasticity Aeroelasticity is the branch of physics and engineering studying the interactions between the inertial, elastic, and aerodynamic forces occurring while an elastic body is exposed to a fluid flow. The study of aeroelasticity may be broadly classi ...

— * Aeronautical abbreviations — * Aeronautics — * Aerospace engineering — *

Aerospike engine The aerospike engine is a type of rocket engine that maintains its aerodynamic efficiency across a wide range of altitudes. It belongs to the class of altitude compensating nozzle engines. Aerospike engines have been studied for several years a ...

— * Aerostat — * Aft-crossing trajectory — * Aileron — * Air-augmented rocket — *

Aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engine ...

— * Aircraft flight control systems — * Aircraft flight mechanics — * Airfoil — *

Airlock An airlock, air-lock or air lock, often abbreviated to just lock, is a compartment with doors which can be sealed against pressure which permits the passage of people and objects between environments of differing pressure or atmospheric compo ...

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Airship An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air. In early ...

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Alcubierre drive The Alcubierre drive () is a speculative warp drive idea according to which a spacecraft could achieve apparent faster-than-light travel by contracting space in front of it and expanding space behind it, under the assumption that a configurable ...

— * Angle of attack — *

Angular momentum In physics, angular momentum (rarely, moment of momentum or rotational momentum) is the rotational analog of linear momentum. It is an important physical quantity because it is a conserved quantity—the total angular momentum of a closed syst ...

— * Angular velocity — * Antimatter rocket — *

Apsis An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. For example, the apsides of the Earth are called the aphelion and perihelion. General description There are two apsides in any ell ...

— * Arcjet rocket — * Areal velocity — * ARP4761 — *

Aspect ratio (wing) In aeronautics, the aspect ratio of a wing is the ratio of its span to its mean chord. It is equal to the square of the wingspan divided by the wing area. Thus, a long, narrow wing has a high aspect ratio, whereas a short, wide wing has a low a ...

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Astrodynamics Orbital mechanics or astrodynamics is the application of ballistics and celestial mechanics to the practical problems concerning the motion of rockets and other spacecraft. The motion of these objects is usually calculated from Newton's laws of ...

— * Atmospheric reentry — *

Attitude control Attitude control is the process of controlling the orientation of an aerospace vehicle with respect to an inertial frame of reference or another entity such as the celestial sphere, certain fields, and nearby objects, etc. Controlling vehicle ...

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Avionics Avionics (a blend of ''aviation'' and ''electronics'') are the electronic systems used on aircraft. Avionic systems include communications, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems, and the hundreds of systems that are fit ...

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B

Balloon A balloon is a flexible bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, and air. For special tasks, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), or light so ...

— * Ballute — *

Beam-powered propulsion Beam-powered propulsion, also known as directed energy propulsion, is a class of aircraft or spacecraft propulsion that uses energy beamed to the spacecraft from a remote power plant to provide energy. The beam is typically either a microwave or a ...

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Bernoulli's equation In fluid dynamics, Bernoulli's principle states that an increase in the speed of a fluid occurs simultaneously with a decrease in static pressure or a decrease in the fluid's potential energy. The principle is named after the Swiss mathematic ...

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Bi-elliptic transfer In astronautics and aerospace engineering, the bi-elliptic transfer is an orbital maneuver that moves a spacecraft from one orbit to another and may, in certain situations, require less delta-v than a Hohmann transfer maneuver. The bi-ellipt ...

— * Big dumb booster — *

Bipropellant rocket A liquid-propellant rocket or liquid rocket utilizes a rocket engine that uses liquid propellants. Liquids are desirable because they have a reasonably high density and high specific impulse (''I''sp). This allows the volume of the propellant t ...

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Bleed air Bleed air is compressed air taken from the compressor stage of a gas turbine upstream of its fuel-burning sections. Automatic air supply and cabin pressure controller (ASCPCs) valves bleed air from high or low stage engine compressor sections. Lo ...

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Booster rocket A booster rocket (or engine) is either the first stage of a multistage launch vehicle, or else a shorter-burning rocket used in parallel with longer-burning sustainer rockets to augment the space vehicle's takeoff thrust and payload capabil ...

— * Breakthrough Propulsion Physics Program — *

Buoyancy Buoyancy (), or upthrust, is an upward force exerted by a fluid that opposes the weight of a partially or fully immersed object. In a column of fluid, pressure increases with depth as a result of the weight of the overlying fluid. Thus the ...

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Bussard ramjet The Bussard ramjet is a theoretical method of spacecraft propulsion proposed in 1960 by the physicist Robert W. Bussard, popularized by Poul Anderson's novel '' Tau Zero'', Larry Niven in his ''Known Space'' series of books, Vernor Vinge in h ...

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C

* Canard — *

Centennial challenges The Centennial Challenges are NASA space competition inducement prize contests for non-government-funded technological achievements by American teams. Origin NASA's Centennial Challenge Program (CCP) directly engages the public at large in the pr ...

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Center of gravity In physics, the center of mass of a distribution of mass in space (sometimes referred to as the balance point) is the unique point where the weighted relative position of the distributed mass sums to zero. This is the point to which a force ma ...

— * Center of mass — * Center of pressure — * Chord — *

Collimated light A collimated beam of light or other electromagnetic radiation has parallel rays, and therefore will spread minimally as it propagates. A perfectly collimated light beam, with no divergence, would not disperse with distance. However, diffraction ...

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Compressibility In thermodynamics and fluid mechanics, the compressibility (also known as the coefficient of compressibility or, if the temperature is held constant, the isothermal compressibility) is a measure of the instantaneous relative volume change of a f ...

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Computational fluid dynamics Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical analysis and data structures to analyze and solve problems that involve fluid flows. Computers are used to perform the calculations required to simulate ...

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Computing Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and development of both hardware and software. Computing has scientific, ...

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Control engineering Control engineering or control systems engineering is an engineering discipline that deals with control systems, applying control theory to design equipment and systems with desired behaviors in control environments. The discipline of controls o ...

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Conservation of momentum In Newtonian mechanics, momentum (more specifically linear momentum or translational momentum) is the product of the mass and velocity of an object. It is a vector quantity, possessing a magnitude and a direction. If is an object's mass an ...

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Crew Exploration Vehicle The Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) was a component of the U.S. NASA Vision for Space Exploration plan. A competition was held to design a spacecraft that could carry humans to the destinations envisioned by the plan. The winning design was th ...

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Critical mach In aerodynamics, the critical Mach number (Mcr or M*) of an aircraft is the lowest Mach number at which the airflow over some point of the aircraft reaches the speed of sound, but does not exceed it.Clancy, L.J. ''Aerodynamics'', Section 11.6 At t ...

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Centrifugal compressor Centrifugal compressors, sometimes called impeller compressors or radial compressors, are a sub-class of dynamic axisymmetric work-absorbing turbomachinery. They achieve pressure rise by adding energy to the continuous flow of fluid through t ...

— * Chevron nozzle —

D

De Laval nozzle A de Laval nozzle (or convergent-divergent nozzle, CD nozzle or con-di nozzle) is a tube which is pinched in the middle, making a carefully balanced, asymmetric hourglass shape. It is used to accelerate a compressible fluid to supersonic speeds ...

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Deflection Deflection or deflexion may refer to: Board games * Deflection (chess), a tactic that forces an opposing chess piece to leave a square * Khet (game), formerly ''Deflexion'', an Egyptian-themed chess-like game using lasers Mechanics * Deflection ...

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Delta-v Delta-''v'' (more known as " change in velocity"), symbolized as ∆''v'' and pronounced ''delta-vee'', as used in spacecraft flight dynamics, is a measure of the impulse per unit of spacecraft mass that is needed to perform a maneuver such a ...

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Delta-v budget In astrodynamics and aerospace, a delta-v budget is an estimate of the total change in velocity ( delta-''v'') required for a space mission. It is calculated as the sum of the delta-v required to perform each propulsive maneuver needed during th ...

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Density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' can also be used. Mathematical ...

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Derivative In mathematics, the derivative of a function of a real variable measures the sensitivity to change of the function value (output value) with respect to a change in its argument (input value). Derivatives are a fundamental tool of calculus. ...

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Digital Datcom The United States Air Force Stability and Control Digital DATCOM is a computer program that implements the methods contained in the USAF Stability and Control DATCOM to calculate the static stability, control and dynamic derivative characteristics ...

— * Displacement (vector) — *

DO-178B DO-178B, Software Considerations in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification is a guideline dealing with the safety of safety-critical software used in certain airborne systems. It was jointly developed by the safety-critical working group RT ...

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DO-254 RTCA DO-254 / EUROCAE ED-80, Design Assurance Guidance for Airborne Electronic Hardware is a document providing guidance for the development of airborne electronic hardware, published by RTCA, Incorporated and EUROCAE. The DO-254/ED-80 standard w ...

— * Drag (physics) — *

Drag coefficient In fluid dynamics, the drag coefficient (commonly denoted as: c_\mathrm, c_x or c_) is a dimensionless quantity that is used to quantify the drag or resistance of an object in a fluid environment, such as air or water. It is used in the drag e ...

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Drag equation In fluid dynamics, the drag equation is a formula used to calculate the force of drag experienced by an object due to movement through a fully enclosing fluid. The equation is: F_\, =\, \tfrac12\, \rho\, u^2\, c_\, A where *F_ is the drag fo ...

— * Dual mode propulsion rocket — * Delta wing —

E

Earth's atmosphere The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing fo ...

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Electrostatic ion thruster The gridded ion thruster is a common design for ion thrusters, a highly efficient low-thrust spacecraft propulsion method running on electrical power by using high-voltage grid electrodes to accelerate ions with electrostatic forces. History Th ...

— * Elliptic partial differential equation — *

Energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of hea ...

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Engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

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Engineering economics ''For the application of engineering economics in the practice of civil engineering see Engineering economics (Civil Engineering).'' Engineering economics, previously known as engineering economy, is a subset of economics concerned with the us ...

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Enstrophy In fluid dynamics, the enstrophy can be interpreted as another type of potential density; or, more concretely, the quantity directly related to the kinetic energy in the flow model that corresponds to dissipation effects in the fluid. It is particu ...

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Equation of motion In physics, equations of motion are equations that describe the behavior of a physical system in terms of its motion as a function of time.''Encyclopaedia of Physics'' (second Edition), R.G. Lerner, G.L. Trigg, VHC Publishers, 1991, ISBN (Ver ...

— * Euler angles — * European Space Agency — *

Expander cycle (rocket) The expander cycle is a power cycle of a bipropellant rocket engine. In this cycle, the fuel is used to cool the engine's combustion chamber, picking up heat and changing phase. The now heated and gaseous fuel then powers the turbine that drives ...

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F

Field Emission Electric Propulsion Field-emission electric propulsion (FEEP) is an advanced electrostatic space propulsion concept, a form of ion thruster, that uses a liquid metal as a propellant – usually either caesium, indium, or mercury. A FEEP device consists of an emitte ...

— * Fixed-wing aircraft — *

Flight control surfaces Aircraft flight control surfaces are aerodynamic devices allowing a pilot to adjust and control the aircraft's flight attitude. Development of an effective set of flight control surfaces was a critical advance in the development of aircraft. Ea ...

— * Flight control system (aircraft) — * Flight control system (helicopter) — *

Flight dynamics Flight dynamics in aviation and spacecraft, is the study of the performance, stability, and control of vehicles flying through the air or in outer space. It is concerned with how forces acting on the vehicle determine its velocity and attit ...

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Floatstick A floatstick is a device to measure fuel levels in modern large aircraft. It consists of a closed tube rising from the bottom of the fuel tank. Surrounding the tube is a ring-shaped float, and inside it is a graduated rod indicating fuel capaci ...

— * Fluid — * Fluid dynamics — *

Fluid mechanics Fluid mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the mechanics of fluids ( liquids, gases, and plasmas) and the forces on them. It has applications in a wide range of disciplines, including mechanical, aerospace, civil, chemical and ...

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Fluid statics Fluid statics or hydrostatics is the branch of fluid mechanics that studies the condition of the equilibrium of a floating body and submerged body " fluids at hydrostatic equilibrium and the pressure in a fluid, or exerted by a fluid, on an imm ...

— * Force — *

Freefall In Newtonian physics, free fall is any motion of a body where gravity is the only force acting upon it. In the context of general relativity, where gravitation is reduced to a space-time curvature, a body in free fall has no force acting on i ...

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Fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraf ...

— * Future Air Navigation System — * Flying wing —

G

Gas-generator cycle (rocket) The gas-generator cycle is a power cycle of a pumped liquid bipropellant rocket engine. Part of the unburned propellant is burned in a gas generator (or preburner) and the resulting hot gas is used to power the propellant pumps before being exhau ...

— * Geostationary orbit — * Geosynchronous orbit — *

Glide ratio In aerodynamics, the lift-to-drag ratio (or L/D ratio) is the lift generated by an aerodynamic body such as an aerofoil or aircraft, divided by the aerodynamic drag caused by moving through air. It describes the aerodynamic efficiency under giv ...

— *GPS — *Gravitational constant — *Gravitational slingshot — *Gravity — *Gravity turn — *Guidance, navigation and control — *Guidance system —

H

*Hall-effect thruster — *Heat shield — *Helicopter — *Hohmann transfer orbit — *Hybrid rocket — *Hydrodynamics — *Hydrostatics — *Hyperbolic partial differential equation — *Hypersonic — *HyShot —

I

*Specific impulse, Impulse — *Inertial navigation system — *Instrument landing system — *Integral — *Internal combustion — *Interplanetary Transport Network — *Interplanetary travel — *Interstellar travel — *Ion thruster — *ISRO

J

*Jet engine —

K

*Kepler's laws of planetary motion — *Kessler syndrome — *Kestrel (rocket engine), Kestrel rocket engine — *Kinetic energy — *Kite — *Kutta condition — *Kutta–Joukowski theorem —

L

*Landing — *Landing gear — *Lagrangian mechanics, Lagrangian — *Lagrangian point — *Laser broom — *Laser Camera System — *Latus rectum — *Launch window — *Law of universal gravitation — *Leading edge — *Lift (force), Lift — *Lift coefficient — *Lightcraft — *Lighter than air — *Liquid air cycle engine — *Liquid fuels — *Liquid rocket propellants — *Lithobraking — *Loiter (flight), Loiter — *Low Earth orbit — *Lunar space elevator —

M

*Mach number — *Magnetic sail — *Magnetoplasmadynamic thruster — *Mass — *Mass driver — *Mechanics of fluids — *Membrane mirror — *Metre per second — *Microwave landing system — *Mini-magnetospheric plasma propulsion — *Missile guidance — *Moment of inertia — *Momentum — *Momentum wheel — *Monopropellant rocket — *Motion (physics), Motion — *Multistage rocket —

N

*Nanotechnology — *NASA — *Navier–Stokes equations — *Newton (unit) — *Newton's laws of motion — *Nose cone design — *Nozzle —

O

*Orbit — *Orbit phasing — *Orbiter Boom Sensor System — *Orbital elements — *Orbital inclination change — *Orbital maneuver — *Orbital node — *Orbital period — *Orbital stationkeeping — *Osculating orbit —

P

*Parallel axes rule — *Parasitic drag — *Parawing — *Perpendicular axes rule — *Physics — *Planetary orbit — *Plasma (physics) — *Plug nozzle — *Pogo oscillation — *Prandtl-Glauert singularity — *Precession — *Pressure — *Pressure altitude — *Pressure-fed engine (rocket), Pressure-fed engine — *Propeller (aircraft), Propeller — *Proper orbital elements — *Pulsed inductive thruster — *Pulsed plasma thruster — *Propulsion — *Philippine Space Agency —

Q

R

*Radar — *Railgun — *Ram accelerator — *Ramjet — *Reaction control system — *Atmospheric reentry, Reentry — *Reflection (physics), Reflection — *Relativistic rocket — *Remote Manipulator System — *Resistojet rocket — *Reusable launch system — *Reynolds number — *RL-10 (rocket engine) — *Rocket — *Rocket engine nozzle — *Rocket fuel — *Rocket launch — *Rudder —

S

*Reaction Engines SABRE, SABRE — *Satellite — *Saturn (rocket family) — *Scalar (physics) — *Schlieren — *Schlieren photography — *Scramjet — *Second moment of area — *Shock wave — *SI — *Single-stage to orbit — *Skyhook (structure) — *Stream function — *Streamlines, streaklines, and pathlines, Streamline — *Photovoltaic module, Solar panel — *Solar sail — *Solar thermal rocket — *Solid of revolution — *Solid rocket — *Sound barrier — *Space activity suit — *Space elevator — *Space fountain — *Space plane — *Space Shuttle — *Space Shuttle external tank — *Space Shuttle Main Engine — *Space station — *Space suit — *Space technology — *Space transport — *Spacecraft — *Spacecraft design — *Spacecraft propulsion — *Special relativity — *Specific impulse — *Speed of sound — *Staged combustion cycle (rocket) — *Subsonic (disambiguation), Subsonic — *Supersonic — *Surface of revolution — *Sweep theory —

T

*Tait–Bryan rotations — *Temperature — *Terminal velocity — *Test target — *Tether propulsion — *Space Shuttle thermal protection system, Thermal protection system — *Thermodynamics — *Thrust — *Thrust vector control — *Thruster (disambiguation), Thruster — *Torricelli's equation — *Trajectory — *Trailing edge — *Trans Lunar Injection — *Transonic — *Transverse wave — *Tripropellant rocket — *Tsiolkovsky rocket equation — *Turbomachinery — *Two-stage-to-orbit —

U

*UFO *UAV

V

*V-2 rocket — *Variable specific impulse magnetoplasma rocket — *Velocity — *Viscometer — *Viscosity — *Vortex generator —

W

*Wave drag — *Weight — *Weight function — *Wind tunnel — *Wing — *Wright Flyer — *Wright Glider of 1902 —

X

Y

Z

{{Empty section, date=July 2010 Aerospace engineering, * Indexes of engineering topics, Aerospace engineering topics