Aerospace Engineer

The career I came up with is an aerospace engineer. According to dictionary.com It is the branch of engineering that deals with design, development, testing, and production of aircrafts and related systems (aeronautical engineering) and of spacecraft, missiles, rocket-propulsion systems, and other equipment operating beyond the earth’s atmosphere (astronautical engineering). This career interests me because it focuses on math and science, but also space. My whole life I have been interested in space and the machines and work people do to make space travel possible. Therefore, I decided on this career because of all the interesting fields it involves.

The history of aerospace engineering is interesting in the fact that it’s been an idea since Da Vinci. According to lifescience.com It is one of “the newest branches of engineering and began in the 19th century with the first experiments in powered flight.” As it progressed, two jobs became anew. Aeronautical which focused on things that flew inside earth’s atmosphere and Astronautical which focused on spacecrafts which of course flew outside the atmosphere.

Faa.gov says “It all truly took off when Orville and Wilbur Wright preformed the first successful flight in a self-propelled airplane on December 17th, 1903.” They became forever known as the brothers who showed that flight is possible. With aerospace engineers starting to learn and study what they need to make a plane more efficient, things kicked into gear and soon after planes were getting used for traveling.

Also, according to lifescience.com on January 1, 1914 the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line became the first airline. A one-way cost $5.00. The airline was short lived and closed on March 30. 1914. Yet it will always be known as the very first airline service established. As planes developed and laws and licenses had to be made, airports to get across the world have been made and now planes are used for cargo and they are way safer then when they came to light. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average aerospace engineer earned $104,810 a year, or $50.39 an hour, in 2012, this is more than enough.

Now moving on to the space aspect of this job. When people started thinking of flying, they never thought of outside the earth’s atmosphere. Space.com says President Dwight Eisenhower approved a plan to put into orbit a scientific satellite. The Soviet Union quickly surprised the world by launching Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, on Oct. 4, 1957.

This launched the race to the moon between America and the Soviet Union, to see who could be the first to land there. Also, according to space.com Kennedy told the U.S that getting to the moon became NASA’s priority. The Mercury and Gemini programs tested U.S. technology and human endurance in space. The Apollo program was designed to take the final steps toward the moon. There were challenges and setbacks, such as a fire that killed three Apollo 1 astronauts, but by 1968, the agency sent astronauts around the moon, with Apollo 8. On July 20, 1961, Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon, famously saying, ‘That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.’ This was probably the most memorable moment in space travel history, and as technology advances and people become more aware of what we need, then way more milestones will make history. So, people were excited for landing on the moon and now we are shooting for mars, and with how it is going I think we will get there sooner.

The education needed to be an aerospace engineer is straight forward and not as extensive as I originally thought. According to environmentalscience.com “Aerospace Engineers require at least a bachelor’s degree to enter the field, typically in aerospace engineering. Some university programs offer 5-year programs that allow students to earn a bachelor’s and master’s degree at the same time. All Aerospace Engineering programs are accredited by the ABET.”

Environmentalscience.com also says, “Though entry-level positions do not require licensure, more advanced Aerospace Engineering programs will likely demand a Professional Engineer (PE) license. Though the requirements vary by state, most require an accredited engineering degree, work experience, and passing performance on both the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam and the Professional Engineering Exam.”

Environmentalscience.com also says, “Acquiring a managerial position in Aerospace Engineering often requires extensive work experience and shadowing a senior Aerospace Engineer.” The education needed for the different positions makes sense because throughout the years other aerospace engineers found out what you need to make a successful aircraft/spacecraft.

In conclusion the job I picked is aerospace engineer due to the fact I can make a difference in space travel. Also, I picked it for the many cool things I get to learn, and if at some point in life I get tired of it, I will have all the education, experience, and time put in to do another cool job. Also, at the end of the day I will have more than enough money to support myself and my family. I am looking forward to what the future holds for space travel and the future knowledge we will learn.