4 answers
Bryan
Student
Rock Hill, South Carolina
1
Question
Updated
547 views
is it difficult to make designs?
I'm interested in rocket science. I think maybe it's difficult to make designs, but if I put time to achieve it, I could
Login to comment
4 answers
Erik Yewell
Sales Engineer / Technical Architect
7
Answers
San Francisco, California
Updated
Erik’s Answer
A friend of mine has a son who is competing in a high school rocket club. Something like this: https://rocketcontest.org/.
See if you can find a local chapter. If not, see if you can find anyone to help start it with you (talk to your science teachers, and ask if they have friends or colleagues who would know how to start this kind of club)
Research which colleges have "combustion" and "Aerodynamics" in their list of majors/courses. Example: https://engineering.purdue.edu/online/courses/combustion
Watch youtube videos on the SpaceX engines, and learn about the history of rocket engines, and rocket design. Learn why they were designed the way they were.
See if you can meet someone who works at SpaceX, or at other companies which manufacture rocket engines: Ariane Group is a company which manufactures Space Propulsion systems: https://www.space-propulsion.com/spacecraft-propulsion/propulsion-systems/index.html Find similar companies near where you live.
Dream high - what are the companies, air force bases, or other places you could work where this kind of work is done. Try to find SOME kind of job there, meet people, ask questions, and follow their guidance.
Erik recommends the following next steps:
Michael Hamrock
Technical Sales
1
Answer
Chicago, Illinois
Updated
Michael’s Answer
I would continue to explore this interest through your math/science teachers, after school clubs and possibly seeking out summer internships or part-time work with an aerospace firm. Often times things are difficult because of the unknown element but with more exposure you can begin to make decisions on the correct path for your career!
As a side note, I also recommend watching the movie October Sky for inspiration!
Ask your science teacher about rocket design and aerospace related clubs
Seek out internships and build relationships with folks in the aerospace industry
Identify the engineering school in your local state and begin planning on requirements for a career in aerospace
As a side note, I also recommend watching the movie October Sky for inspiration!
Michael recommends the following next steps:
Luis Perez Camacho
Technical Architect
5
Answers
San Francisco, California
Updated
Luis’s Answer
What an exciting question, Bryan! Building rockets is one of the most challenging endeavors that we, humans, have ever accomplished. When you build them, you can be sure that you will be making enormous contributions to the knowledge and progress of our world. Rockets are not constructed or designed by a single person. Such a complex project requires the collaboration of multiple teams with different skills. To make a career in the rocket industry, I recommend you study various fields, including Math, Physics, Astronomy, Languages, Project Management, and Teamwork. Get curious about it while you are in school, visit museums, and choose the right electives through High School. Your school has advisors who can recommend what to study if you share your objectives with them. Things look intimidating only to people that haven't put enough effort into understanding them. If you master the right subjects, designing rockets won't look as challenging as it seems for most people because you'll be the expert!
Joseph Neilson
Radiation Detection Physicist
219
Answers
Oxford, England, United Kingdom
Updated
Joseph’s Answer
The phrase "it's not rocket science" shows aerospace engineering has a reputation as hard; and in some ways, that reputation seems well deserved: rocketry has historically been fraught with failures, and even today the high-profile failures of recent rockets like Starship, Blue Origin, and LauncherOne show that it's not easy to get everything right when you're designing new commercial-scale rockets. Besides that, I think the phrase really comes from a more basic level - the fact that the physics, engineering and mathematics that you need for aerospace engineering have all been traditionally considered "hard" subjects.
Personally, I think that's nonsense - what's "hard" for one person can be quite easy for another; and if you have the interest, dedication, and the right education, anyone can do rocket science. If you've got a particular kind of mind, you might even find the basic elements of rocket science easy! The main "rocket equation" is little more than Newton's laws and a tiny bit of simple calculus put together - quite easy if you ask me. The difficultly of commercial-scale rockets isn't anything fundamental about the science being any more difficult than other fields; it's just the fact that rockets that large are inherently complex machines with many systems that can go wrong, with everything cut down to fine margins to save weight; and that you need large teams of people all working together in the right ways to make it all work.
That does make it nigh-on impossible for one person to "make designs" for commercial rockets wholly by themselves, but certainly, if you put in the work, you could absolutely be a part of the design team working on a particular aspect of rocket design. You can set your sights on jobs with various organisations; whether that's directly with a national/international space agency; a large private aerospace company; or one of their many engineering or consultancy subcontractors. To get started on that path, there are various routes including apprenticeships, but I think the most common route will be obtaining a degree or beyond in a STEM field like engineering or physics - with a really good option being aerospace engineering degrees if that's what you've narrowed your interest down to. You'll want to focus on doing well in your studies, particularly in physics and mathematics; but also other STEAM subjects can be important - things like computing, practical crafting and engineering like woodwork and metalwork where offered, and even more creative areas are increasingly being recognised as important too, particular at agencies like NASA.
Of course, a great activity to get involved with, (and where you can make designs yourself as just one person), is model rocketry - I think some of the other answers have also suggested you look into model rocketry clubs - it can be great fun testing out ideas and basic engineering skills with model rockets - you can start simple with water bottle rockets and then move to little solid fuel rocket motors you can buy for model rockets. I've seen people build some really quite clever model rockets with those, with multiple stages, remote controls, parachute systems and more.
Personally, I think that's nonsense - what's "hard" for one person can be quite easy for another; and if you have the interest, dedication, and the right education, anyone can do rocket science. If you've got a particular kind of mind, you might even find the basic elements of rocket science easy! The main "rocket equation" is little more than Newton's laws and a tiny bit of simple calculus put together - quite easy if you ask me. The difficultly of commercial-scale rockets isn't anything fundamental about the science being any more difficult than other fields; it's just the fact that rockets that large are inherently complex machines with many systems that can go wrong, with everything cut down to fine margins to save weight; and that you need large teams of people all working together in the right ways to make it all work.
That does make it nigh-on impossible for one person to "make designs" for commercial rockets wholly by themselves, but certainly, if you put in the work, you could absolutely be a part of the design team working on a particular aspect of rocket design. You can set your sights on jobs with various organisations; whether that's directly with a national/international space agency; a large private aerospace company; or one of their many engineering or consultancy subcontractors. To get started on that path, there are various routes including apprenticeships, but I think the most common route will be obtaining a degree or beyond in a STEM field like engineering or physics - with a really good option being aerospace engineering degrees if that's what you've narrowed your interest down to. You'll want to focus on doing well in your studies, particularly in physics and mathematics; but also other STEAM subjects can be important - things like computing, practical crafting and engineering like woodwork and metalwork where offered, and even more creative areas are increasingly being recognised as important too, particular at agencies like NASA.
Of course, a great activity to get involved with, (and where you can make designs yourself as just one person), is model rocketry - I think some of the other answers have also suggested you look into model rocketry clubs - it can be great fun testing out ideas and basic engineering skills with model rockets - you can start simple with water bottle rockets and then move to little solid fuel rocket motors you can buy for model rockets. I've seen people build some really quite clever model rockets with those, with multiple stages, remote controls, parachute systems and more.