Foundation
Nine chapters from what an aerospace engineer actually does to where the field is heading, vehicles, aerodynamics across every speed regime, structures, propulsion, stability and control, systems integration, the design and test process, and the careers built on all of it.
The first level of the Aerospace track, and no prior engineering background is assumed. It opens with what separates aerospace engineering from flying or operating a vehicle that already exists, then works outward through the three vehicle classes, the physics that governs each speed regime from subsonic to hypersonic, the structures and materials that have to survive it all, and the propulsion systems that make any of it move. The second half turns to how a vehicle is actually built and proven: dynamics and control, systems integration, the design and testing process, and the real career paths this knowledge leads to. Four interactive models, a mission scenario in every chapter, and an open-response exercise read by ATLAS.
Start with Chapter 1 for free. Sign in or create a Mach 9 account, then unlock Chapters 2–9 for $24.99 with one payment and lifetime access.
Continue beyond the horizon
Unlock Chapters 2–9 of Aerospace Foundation.
Payment is handled by Shopify on the Mach 9 store, so no card details reach this site.
Chapters
- 01What Aerospace Engineers Actually DoThree kinds of vehicle, one way of thinking about all of them, and the difference between flying something and designing what gets flown.18 min1 quick checks1 mission
- 02Aircraft, Spacecraft and RocketsThree environments, three sets of physics, and why the question "what vehicle should we build" only has an answer once you know what the mission actually needs.17 min1 model2 quick checks1 mission Unlock for $24.99
- 03Aerodynamics and Flight Physics Across Speed RegimesHow air behaves changes as a vehicle goes faster (gradually, then suddenly) and almost every strange shape in aerospace history is an engineer answering that change.19 min1 model1 quick checks1 mission Unlock for $24.99
- 04Structures and MaterialsA structure rarely fails where the load is applied. It fails where the load was travelling to, and a lightweight aircraft that survives one flight has to survive tens of thousands of them.18 min1 model2 quick checks1 mission Unlock for $24.99
- 05Propulsion SystemsEvery propulsion system does the same one thing (throws mass one way to move the vehicle the other) and almost everything that makes engines different is a disagreement about which mass to throw, and how fast.19 min2 models1 quick checks1 mission Unlock for $24.99
- 06Dynamics, Stability and ControlStability and control sound like the same idea. They are opposites in one important sense, and the tension between them is a real, deliberate design decision, not a problem to be eliminated.18 min1 model1 quick checks1 mission Unlock for $24.99
- 07Systems and IntegrationA vehicle is not its best subsystem. It is whatever all of them do together, including the failure nobody who built any single one of them would have caught alone.17 min1 quick checks1 mission Unlock for $24.99
- 08Design, Testing and the Engineering ProcessAerospace engineering is not a drawing and a calculation. It is a structured argument that a vehicle will work, and testing is where that argument is finally allowed to be wrong.18 min1 quick checks1 mission Unlock for $24.99
- 09Careers, Pathways and the Future of Aerospace EngineeringNine chapters of how aerospace vehicles are actually built. This one is about where that knowledge actually leads, and what the field looks like from here.16 min1 quick checks1 mission Unlock for $24.99