Associate of Science Degree Certificate of Commination Aerospace technology describes the study of space flight, aircraft, and space vehicle technologies. Technicians can be employed by industry professionals in all areas related to reliable and reusable space flight vehicles and components, including applications in propulsion, avionics, materials science, and astronautics. They will receive a Bachelor of Science degree, or a BS in aerospace engineering, from an accredited college or technical school and be able to work immediately in their field of choice. These students are expected to have completed all coursework requirements prior to entering into the program. Students can expect to take up to three years to complete this course of study, though some bachelor’s degrees are awarded in just two years.
Some of the typical Aerospace Technology employment prospects include positions as an Air Force Systems Technician, an Aeronautics and Astronautical Tech, an Aerospace Materials Engineer, a Flight Operations Specialist, or a Systems Engineer. The demand for qualified and skilled personnel in these fields is growing at a steady pace. Currently there is a deficit of qualified and trained personnel in these areas of the Air Force and NASA. In order to meet the needs of both national and international space programs, these gaps must be filled. Thus, Aerospace Technology careers are a great way to bring trained personnel to these high demanding and beneficial positions.
The prospects for growth and advancement of these careers are good, with many job opportunities opening up in numerous fields of Aerospace Technology in coming years. Several key areas of specialty within the Aerospace industry include long-range robotic research, unmanned aerial vehicles (UUVs), satellite and weather technology, aeronautical engineer training, optical and mechanical design, structural mechanics, satellite and tracking systems, human and machine interaction, and propulsion and environmental testing. In addition, there is an increasing need for systems engineers for the developing new aircraft and spacecraft.
There is also a growing need for qualified personnel to train and certify the next generation of autopilot flight software, to create the infrastructure for the future aircraft, to design and construct the Zero-gravity vehicles (ZOVs), to train the next generation of the autopilot system, to train and certify new astronaut trainees, and to support the engineering, construction and testing processes of the entire aerospace technology enterprise. Predictive maintenance is another key facet of the future aerospace industry, with the ability to repair damage or problems on orbit much more quickly and efficiently than is possible on Earth. This will play a huge role in long-term space exploration and will make life much easier for astronauts.
There is also a shortage of personnel in several other areas of the aerospace technology enterprise. One of the most pressing issues is the lack of experienced personnel in the aerospace construction field. The lack of experience results in a higher cost of construction in general, as well as in the overall construction of the finished product (i.e., less efficient, higher costs). Washingtons State in Maryland is one of only a few locations in the United States to have an abundance of experienced construction personnel on hand. There are two highly skilled, highly trained astronaut flight engineer’s training at NASA’s Space Station Ring Lander, as well as several highly skilled mechanical engineers and technicians based at NASA headquarters in Washington D.C.
Another important element of the future of aerospace technology comes from the growing role that machine learning will play. Machine learning means that engineers are able to design better, faster, stronger, lighter, and more efficient machines, using real-time 3D images of their final product to train their machines. This is a relatively new phenomena in the aerospace industry, but is coming to the forefront as the leading principle behind computer chip technology. This technology will enable engineers to build faster, stronger products, with ever-increasing precision.
The third emerging principle of aerospace technology is additive manufacturing. Additive manufacturing is the process of adding desired special features or components to a product, without making any physical change to the original product. For instance, instead of a fighter plane having just wings, the fighter jet can be made out of various materials – and each material can be added in one piece. How additive manufacturing might work for a fighter jet is simply this: the engineer designs the shape and the composition of a fighter plane, then uses a computer program to test the design. If it works, the engineer moves forward to add the material, along with various other properties, to produce the final plane.
additive manufacturing and other future developments within the aerospace industry mean that the job of the aerospace engineer won’t be changing very much in the next few decades. In fact, because of the rapid advancements in computer chip technology, the jobs of engineers and technicians will be staying largely the same, especially with today’s emphasis on space vehicles, like the eventual human exploration of Mars. While the jobs of aerospace engineers and technicians will continue to grow, the jobs of maintenance and support personnel will decrease. This means that over time, the overall employment in the aerospace industry will likely increase quite significantly, as more people find these positions by looking online
