kb/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_aerospace_engineering-25.md

title	chunk	source	category	tags	date_saved	instance
Glossary of aerospace engineering	26/27	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_aerospace_engineering	reference	science, encyclopedia	2026-05-05T07:50:15.292303+00:00	kb-cron

== S == SABRE – Satellite – Saturn (rocket family) – Scalar (physics) – A quantity with magnitude but no direction. Schlieren – Schlieren photography – Scramjet – Second moment of area – Shock wave – SI – Single point of failure – Single-stage-to-orbit – spacecraft able to fly from a celestial body (usually the Earth or the Moon)'s surface to its orbit without using external boosters Skyhook (structure) – Slew – Stream function – Streamline – Solar panel – Solar sail – Solar thermal rocket – Solid of revolution – Solid rocket – Sound barrier – Space activity suit – Space elevator – Space fountain – Space Shuttle – crewed NASA spacecraft used between 1981 and 2011, consisting of a reusable spaceplane (the Space Shuttle orbiter, capable of airplane-like landing) attached to an expendable external tank (which disintegrated during re-entry) and two recoverable solid rocket boosters (which re-entered the Earth's atmosphere and splash-landed) Space Shuttle external tank – external tank attached to the orbiter and the solid rocket boosters in the NASA Space Shuttle program Space Shuttle main engine – Space Shuttle orbiter – reusable NASA VTHL spaceplane used during the Space Shuttle program (1981–2011) Space station – habitable artificial satellite Space suit – Space technology – Space transport – Spacecraft – Spacecraft design – Spacecraft propulsion – Spaceplane – vehicle capable of both atmospheric flight according to the laws of aerodynamics (like an aircraft) and spaceflight in outer space (like a spacecraft) Special relativity – Specific impulse – Speed of sound – SRB – solid rocket booster SSTO – single-stage-to-orbit Staged combustion cycle (rocket) – Subsonic – inferior to the speed of sound Supersonic – superior to the speed of sound Surface of revolution – Sweep theory –

== T == Tait–Bryan rotations – Temperature – Terminal velocity – is the maximum velocity (speed) attainable by an object as it falls through a fluid (air is the most common example). It occurs when the sum of the drag force (Fd) and the buoyancy is equal to the downward force of gravity (FG) acting on the object. Since the net force on the object is zero, the object has zero acceleration. Test target – Tether propulsion – Thermal protection system – Thermodynamics – Thrust – Thruster – Torricelli's equation – In physics, Torricelli's equation, or Torricelli's formula, is an equation created by Evangelista Torricelli to find the final velocity of an object moving with a constant acceleration along an axis (for example, the x axis) without having a known time interval. The equation itself is:

      v
      
        f
      
      
        2
      
    
    =
    
      v
      
        i
      
      
        2
      
    
    +
    2
    a
    Δ
    x
    
  

{\displaystyle v_{f}^{2}=v_{i}^{2}+2a\Delta x\,}

where

      v
      
        f
      
    
  

{\displaystyle v_{f}}

is the object's final velocity along the x axis on which the acceleration is constant.

      v
      
        i
      
    
  

{\displaystyle v_{i}}

is the object's initial velocity along the x axis.

    a
  

{\displaystyle a}

is the object's acceleration along the x axis, which is given as a constant.

    Δ
    x
    
  

{\displaystyle \Delta x\,}

is the object's change in position along the x axis, also called displacement. This equation is valid along any axis on which the acceleration is constant. Total air temperature – In aviation, stagnation temperature is known as total air temperature and is measured by a temperature probe mounted on the surface of the aircraft. The probe is designed to bring the air to rest relative to the aircraft. As the air is brought to rest, kinetic energy is converted to internal energy. The air is compressed and experiences an adiabatic increase in temperature. Therefore, total air temperature is higher than the static (or ambient) air temperature. Total air temperature is an essential input to an air data computer in order to enable the computation of static air temperature and hence true airspeed. Trajectory – or flight path, is the path that an object with mass in motion follows through space as a function of time. In classical mechanics, a trajectory is defined by Hamiltonian mechanics via canonical coordinates; hence, a complete trajectory is defined by position and momentum, simultaneously. The mass might be a projectile or a satellite. For example, it can be an orbit — the path of a planet, asteroid, or comet as it travels around a central mass. Trailing edge – Trans Lunar Injection – Transonic – Transverse wave – Tripropellant rocket – Tsiolkovsky rocket equation – Turbomachinery – Two-stage-to-orbit –

== U == UFO – An unidentified flying object is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are identified as known objects or atmospheric phenomena, while a small number remain unexplained.