Artist’s rendering of a Mars Exploration Rover. | Image: NASA/JPL/Cornell University, Maas Digital LLC
We may feel that we live on a pretty big planet but the Earth is only a tiny, pale blue dot in a vast cosmos. Look up at night and you will see a whole lot of space out there for us to use and understand. With less than 60 years of sending things into space under our belts, the future up above is almost limitless.
Engineers design and build spacecraft that will map and explore distant planets and stars, helping us understand more about the universe. Closer to home, engineering using the potential of space has a major impact on how many societies function. For example, it’s easy to forget how far global communications have come when finding your way in a strange city is so easy thanks to the phone in your pocket communicating with a network of satellites.
How does a toilet flush in space? How do you control a robot on another planet? What’s the fastest rocket engine ever built? How will space engineering change our lives in the future? Engineers are involved in answering all these questions.
In this zone there is an engineer who founded a company that makes technology for satellites, another who tests the materials that spacecraft are made from to breaking point, and another who makes sure that a new satellite stays at just the right temperature. There is also an engineer who comes up with novel applications for satellite technology and another who builds low-weight satellites that are used for observing earth and navigation.
