Aerospace Technology
Inventions and engineering achievements, including rockets, jet engines and navigation systems
Flocking ScanEagles
When it comes to operating UAVs, six heads aren't better than one.
August 2007 |
By Joe Pappalardo
How Things Work - Afterburners
Jets get no kick from champagne, but a little fuel in the tailpipe...
July 2007 |
By Damond Benningfield
Can We Hear Them Now?
Speak up, space aliens. These 42 new radio telescopes are all ears.
July 2007 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Alenia's Robots
They're not as wise as R2D2, but robots are essential in building aircraft like the Airbus A380.
July 2007 |
By Joe Pappalardo
Can We Stop a Nuke?
From the impossible dream of a space-based shield, missile defense has come down to Earth. But will it work?
May 2007 |
By Ben Iannotta
Model Behavior
In the age of computer design,
why do engineers still send airplane models to the wind tunnel?
March 2007 |
By Peter Garrison
Shape Shifters
Shape-memory polymers and other technologies may create an airplane for all missions.
March 2007 |
By Michael Milstein
We Recycle
Used airplane parts can appear in the strangest places.
March 2007 |
By Lee Ann Tegtmeier
The Thin Aluminum Line
Supersonic airplanes and a screen of radar stood ready during the cold war to avert the end of the world.
January 2007 |
By Carl Posey
How Things Work: Electromagnetic Catapults
From zero to 150 in less than a second.
January 2007 |
By Tim Wright
STS-116: The Inside Guide
A tip sheet for following this week's space shuttle mission.
January 2007 |
By Tony Reichhardt
How Things Work: Aircraft Identiļ¬cation
A digital communications system could put the control tower in the cockpit.
November 2006 |
By Lester A. Reingold
The Not-So-Big Dig
With the equivalent power of an electric can opener, engineers try to do more than scratch the Martian surface.
November 2006 |
By Tom Harpole
A & S Interview: Pete Worden
The director of NASA's Ames Research Center talks about piloting a Stearman and settling the moon.
November 2006 |
By Paul Hoversten
