Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is similar, but deals with the electronics side of aerospace engineering.
NASA engineers, seen here in mission control during Apollo 13, worked to ensure the safety of the operation and astronauts onboard
Orville and Wilbur Wright flew the Wright Flyer in 1903 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
A F/A-18F Super Hornet in flight, 2008
Wernher von Braun, with the F-1 engines of the Saturn V first stage at the US Space and Rocket Center
Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of air flight-capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. The British Royal Aeronautical Society identifies the aspects of "aeronautical Art, Science and Engineering" and "The profession of Aeronautics ."
Space Shuttle Atlantis on a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft
Designs for flying machines by Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1490
Montgolfier brothers flight, 1784
Lilienthal in mid-flight, Berlin c. 1895