Aerospace

From the beginning, the United States Air Force USAF defined aerospace as "an operationally indivisible medium consisting of the total expanse beyond the Earth's surface." . Aerospace now is a now a term used to encompass everything from aerodynamics to space.

History & Etymology

The term aerospace may first have been used during Air Force discussions with the Congress.

Aerospace as a subject has been explored for centuries. In a Greek legend of Icarus and his father Daedalus, they built wings of feathers and wax to escape prison. Leonardo da Vinci, was one early scientist to study what is now aerospace.

Modern research in aerospace is based on the work of Europeans, and the American Samuel Langley (1834-1906), who was sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution. The modern age begins with the independent (unsponsored) research by the Wright brothers that led to the first powered flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on December 17, 1903. After 1910 the center of research moved to Europe, but the U.S. created the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) in 1915; in 1958 it became National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Bibliography

• Bilstein, Roger E. Testing Aircraft, Exploring Space: An Illustrated History of NACA and NASA. (2003) This is an update of Henry, Orders of Magnitude: A History of NACA and NASA, 1915-1990
• Heppenheimer, T. A. A Brief History of Flight: From Balloons to Mach 3 and beyond, (2001) online edition
• Henry, John et al. Orders of Magnitude: A History of the NACA and NASA, 1915-1990 (1989) [ online edition]

See Also

• List of Aerospace Engineering Historical Events
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
• National Institute of Aerospace
• Aerospace Engineering
• Aeronautics
• aircraft
• Airbus
• Boeing

External Links & Related Organizations

• NASA History Series Publications