3, 2, 1...blast off!
The thrusters go off, and the rocket takes off. The most transcendent piece of work by humans to date remains The Space Transportation System. Well, I may be biased. Since watching a clip of the Apollo 11 taking off in 1969 carrying the most famous Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and their crew to the Moon to be the first human there, I couldn’t get my head out of rockets. I was about 11 years old, and I had made up my mind: I want to be anything and everything related to rockets. And here I am today, setting off my career with aerospace engineering.
This career path would either usher me towards aircraft engineering (aeronautical) or spacecraft engineering (astronautical). The history of aerospace engineering began with The Wright Brothers in 1903 when, for the first time, a vehicle took flight for 12 seconds; and today the sector is dominated by NASA, SpaceX, and even Amazon sending aircrafts to not only the Moon, but even Mars and Saturn.
Aerospace engineering has advanced leaps and bounds during the World Wars, and especially during the Cold War. The rivalry between the countries created a vying need for advancements of aircraft, space crafts, and even weaponry like missiles. This race led to the evolution of aeronautics to aerospace. Not only were there accelerated advents when it comes to rockets, but also in the aeroplane industry.
A bit of history
The first passenger flight made by Boeing 747, which flew from New York to London, created history and was known as the “Jumbo Jet.” Then there was the Concorde -- a supersonic aircraft that made flying exceptionally faster but also more expensive. From a two-manned aircraft in the 1900s, we have come a long way, and in 2019 we have commercial aircrafts which can carry more than 850 passengers at a time.
During this time of the world, advancements are burgeoning all around, especially in the matter of space technology. Developing countries are joining in the space race and demand for equal access, describing outer space as man’s common heritage. Bangladesh, Bhutan, and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic recently launched their satellites.
The satellite launched by Bangladesh, “The Bangabandhu Satellite-1,” is being used for communication and broadcasting. Development in aerospace technology will have several beneficial uses, including the strengthening of communication, infrastructures, disaster management, education, agriculture, environmental protection, and natural resource management, which have enormous relevance for human development.
The debate between aerospace engineering and aeronautical engineering has been going around for ages now, but sporadically does one realize that there is nothing to compare between the two. This is because aerospace engineering includes all the developments of flights that happen both inside the atmosphere and outside. Whereas, aeronautical engineering takes into account only those aircrafts that stay within the earth's atmosphere. Thus, aeroplanes, helicopters, drones, etc all fall within this category.
The main question should arise with the comparison of aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Viz, having expertise in both aero and astronautical engineering, has become an aerospace agency. More productive aircrafts are being built due to aeronautical engineering. Not only does this be germane to commercial aircraft, but also private and business aircraft including drones.
My steadfast focus remains on spacecraft and their design. It fascinates me how the rockets are designed to endure thousands of degrees in heat while tearing up the sky and breaking through it. The design in itself remains to be one of man's greatest creations. A career in aerospace engineering will see you working with cutting-edge technology and international companies. A lot of factors need to be taken into account for building a spacecraft; aerodynamic heating, avionics, material and structure, propulsion, fuel, system integration don’t even scratch the list of innumerable components.
When going in as an aerospace engineer, you will need to design, maintain, research, develop, and test the results of missiles, military aircraft, and even private aircraft, vehicles of space, and weapons. Jobs can differ being contingent on ones maestro and gaffer, but the main focus will be the application of technology and principles of science to design aircrafts, materials and basic physical engineering abilities to build an aircraft and usage of computer-aided design (CAD) software to build plans and oversee the construction of airframes, engines, instruments and other equipments that take part in flight-test programs. Programs that measure take-off distances, rate of climb, stall speeds, manoeuvrability, and landing capacities resolve issues that arise during the design, development, and testing processes maintain aircraft for full operation, including making regular inspections, maintenance, repairs and servicing measure, and improve the performance of aircraft, components and systems modify designs to improve safety features or minimize fuel consumption and pollution, investigate aircraft accidents, collate information, interpret data, and publish the results of specific projects in technical report form, and communicate technical and regulatory advice to clients, teams, suppliers and other professionals within the aerospace industry.
Several companies have already started investing in aerospace in Bangladesh; namely Avion Aerospace, Aerodreams Bangladesh, and Mixon. Not only in Bangladesh, all around the world, the field of aerospace has not only prospered countries' economies but also created a lot of job opportunities and flourished the countries defence and communication.
The recent innovation of new material from NASA is an extraordinary example where a technology called Spanwise Adaptive Wing was tried out. This alloy can both fold and bend, making aerodynamics much easier. This alloy is used in the wings of aircrafts by NASA. It can be fruitful in several ways. For example, superior fuel efficiency to better flight speeds can be achieved using it, piloting to even faster supersonic speeds. The wings fold between angles of 0 and 70 degrees.
The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit
The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit has been one of the awe-inspiring stealth bombers and leads aeronautics to a better dimension. I hope it has been clear that aeronautical engineering incorporates all the aircraft that stay beneath the earth's atmosphere.
Astronautical engineering has helped us to travel beyond earth, to explore the vast expanse that is space. Currently, we've got over 4800 satellites orbiting the world. They comprise the various satellites launched by different space research centres around the world.
The greatest milestone till now in engineering space structures remains to be the international space station. This space station orbits very near to the earth's atmosphere and it came into fruition from the agreement between five different countries. A couple of years ago, astronautical engineering was mainly conducted by space agencies funded by governments. However, that trend has changed with private companies coming into the scene, like SpaceX and Blue Origin. Technologies like reusable space crafts are easing the resource tax that comes with spacecraft creation and use.
Unlike aeronautics, astronautics need to subsume completely different use cases. The challenges are available in the shape of making efficient propulsion systems, materials that will withstand the high amount of heat from reentry, radiation protection, reliable communications and navigations, and a secure environment for astronauts to live and work in. Astronautical engineering has come an extensive way and it's here to remain because we've only explored a small fraction of the space.
Choosing between aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering depends on your actual field of interest. If you're curious about airborne vehicles, then aeronautical engineering should be your pick. And if your interest is in space crafts and space technologies then you'll slot in perfectly with astronautical engineering.
Aerospace engineering isn’t just reaching to have a bright future, it's aiming to be revolutionizing in more ways than one. We've already started brooding about using air space as future highways for private use.
In other words, flying cars might not be as far-off as you think!
In such cases, you'll see the melding of automobile and aerospace engineering. Japan recently unveiled its flying car stating that it might enter production by 2026. The battery-powered flying car is compact and might alleviate the busy streets. We can expect this trend to continue in the future as more and more countries are eyeing flying cars for solving modern-day traffic problems.
And this is often just the tip of an iceberg. Aviation is a field that's getting to witness many changes moving forward. In 2018, Airbus tested a solar aircraft that stayed on the wing for 28 days. The prototype isn’t capable of carrying any passenger load, but this can be a step in the right direction. As the industry booms, they're going to need engineers to take the helm of various tasks; in other words, more job opportunities.
Moreover, it’s not just the advanced countries playing with aircraft and spacecraft -- aerospace engineering development is inevitable in all countries. In 2019, Bangladesh inaugurated its first aerospace engineering institute, The Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Aviation and Aerospace University (BSMRAAU). This marks the first step towards progress in this field for Bangladesh. With its economy slowly rising, Bangladesh is aiming for advancements in all fields, and I believe investing capital and students in the field of aerospace engineering will only bring eminence shortly.
Furthermore, Bangladesh recently transitioned from an LEDC to a developing country. Showing prospects in all the fields, Bangladesh needs to build up progress in all sectors, most importantly aerospace engineering. With countries around Bangladesh building missiles, satellites, aeroplanes, and not only advancing in the military race but also in the technological and information race, it will allow for the creation of new ideas that impact the country as a whole.
With such headway in aerospace engineering, Bangladesh can accomplish all of its aims and join the race of advancement. With the addition of BSMRAAU, a small step towards progress is seen. Their mission is, “To transform people into Aviation, Space and Technological professionals and enthusiasts by providing world-class education.” The necessity of the introduction of Aerospace Engineering in Bangladesh has long been felt. A few universities including MIST, Aeronautical Institute of Bangladesh, and BSMRAAU have initiated their first step towards it. With the way it's being developed, within the next decade, the Asia Pacific region might become the largest air transport market in the world. This will create vast opportunities for Bangladesh to get into this market and reap its benefits.
The investments into this sector are the gambit for Bangladesh to become a developed nation, which will make aerospace technology a great economic booster.
Sadwaan Rabb Majumder is a student of International Baccalaureate at UWC Atlantic College, Wales, UK.