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Home , Armstrong limit, Cabin pressurization, Hypersonic flight

Contacts: Isabel Morales, Museum of Science and Industry, (773) 947-6003 Renee Mailhiot, Museum of Science and Industry, (773) 947-3133

A GLOSSARY OF TERMS Aerodynamics: The study of the properties of moving air, particularly of the interaction between the air and solid bodies moving through it. Afterburner: An auxiliary burner fitted to the exhaust system of a turbojet engine to increase thrust. Airfoil: A structure with curved surfaces designed to give the most favorable ratio of lift to drag in , used as the basic form of the wings, fins and horizontal stabilizer of most aircraft. : The that produces an so low (0.0618 atmosphere or 6.3 kPa [1.9 in Hg]) that water boils at the normal temperature of the : 37°C (98.6°F). The saliva in your mouth would boil if you were not wearing a at this altitude. Death would occur within minutes from exposure to the . Autothrottle: The autopilot function that increases or decreases engine power,typically on larger aircraft. : An icon or figure representing a particular person in computer games, Internet forums, etc. : The branch of technology and industry concerned with both aviation and space flight. Carbon fiber: Thin, strong, crystalline filaments of carbon, used as a strengthening material, especially in resins and ceramics. Ceres: A dwarf planet that orbits within the asteroid belt and the largest asteroid in the solar system. Chinook: The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is an American twin-engine, tandem-rotor heavy-lift helicopter. CST-100: The crew capsule designed by Boeing in collaboration with Bigelow Aerospace for NASA's Commercial Crew Development program. CubeSat: A miniaturized satellite. Delta IV: The Delta IV Heavy (Delta 9250H) is an expendable rocket, the largest type of the Delta IV family, and the world's highest capacity rocket currently operating. Dreamliner: The is a new long-range, mid-size wide-body, twin-engine jet. Fédération Aéronautique Internationale: The world governing body for air sports. Fixed-wing aircraft: An aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift caused by the vehicle's forward airspeed and the shape of the wings. Flying wing: A tailless fixed-wing aircraft that has no definite , with most of the crew, payload and equipment being housed inside the main wing structure. Forces of flight: Four forces that affect things that fly:

 Lift is the force that acts counter to weight to keep an object aloft. Lift is created by differences in air pressure.  Weight is a measure of the force of gravity. It acts in a downward direction— toward the center of the Earth.  Thrust is the force that propels a flying machine in the direction of motion. Engines produce thrust.  Drag is the force that acts opposite to the direction of motion. Drag is caused by friction and differences in air pressure. Fuselage: The main part of an airplane that holds the crew, passengers and cargo. Geosynchronous Earth orbit: An orbit around the Earth that matches the period of the planet’s rotation, so the object appears to stay above the same point on the ground. Gravity: The natural force that tends to cause physical things to move towards each other; the force that causes things to fall towards the Earth. Head-up display (HUD): Any transparent display that presents data without requiring users to look away from their usual viewpoints. Hypersonic (Mach 5+): Relating to speeds of five times the speed of sound and faster. Inner Van Allen Belt: One of two zones encircling the Earth in which there are relatively large numbers of high-energy (fast-moving) charged particles. Infographics: A visual image such as a chart or diagram used to represent information or data. These are used throughout the exhibition. Jet stream: A long, narrow, meandering current of high-speed winds near the tropopause, blowing from a generally westerly direction and often exceeding a speed of 250 miles (402 kilometers) per hour. Kármán line: About 100 kilometers or 62 miles above the Earth, this is where space begins. KickSat “Sprite”: A poker-chip-sized satellite developed by a graduate student at Cornell University. Mach number: A number representing the ratio of the speed of a body to the speed of sound in a surrounding medium, such as air. (A Mach number of 2 indicates a speed that is twice the speed of sound.) Carbon nanotube: A carbon nanotube is a tube-shaped material, made of carbon, having a diameter measuring on the nanometer scale (a scale of one-billionth of a meter, or about one ten-thousandth of the thickness of a human hair). Carbon nanotubes can be hundreds of times stronger than steel, but six times lighter. Orion: A planned, beyond-low Earth orbit (LEO) manned spacecraft that is being built for crewed missions to the Moon, asteroids and Mars. Ornithopter: An aircraft that flies by flapping its wings. Outer Van Allen Belt: One of two zones encircling the earth in which there are relatively large numbers of high-energy (fast-moving) charged particles. Pepper’s Ghost: An illusion technique used in theatre, haunted houses, dark rides and magic tricks that combines plate glass, Plexiglas® or plastic film and special lighting techniques to make objects seem to appear, disappear or become transparent, or make one object morph into another. Perpetual : A large unmanned vehicle designed for perpetual flight. Phantom Eye: A high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) liquid hydrogen-powered, unmanned aerial vehicle developed by Boeing Phantom Works. Phantom Phoenix Nanos: Small satellite prototypes that can be quickly and affordably manufactured and configured for specific missions. Phantom Swift: A rapid prototyping flying demonstrator that was designed and built by Boeing in less than 30 days. Pressurization: is used to create a safe and comfortable environment for aircraft passengers and crew flying at high altitude by pumping conditioned air into the cabin. This air is usually bled off from the engines at the stage. : A form of air-breathing jet engine that uses the engine's forward motion to compress incoming air without a rotary compressor. Reader rail: Label rails that surround exhibit displays. Rotorcraft: A heavier-than-air rotary-wing aircraft that uses lift generated by rotor blades that revolve around a mast. (Several rotor blades mounted on a single mast are referred to as a rotor.) ScanEagle: A low-cost, long-endurance, autonomous unmanned vehicle developed by Insitu and Boeing. Solar sails: Solar sails (also called light sails or photon sails) are a form of spacecraft propulsion using the radiation pressure (also called solar pressure) from stars to push large ultra-thin mirrors to high speeds. Sonic boom: The sound associated with the shock waves created by an object traveling through the air faster than the speed of sound. Space elevator: A proposed type of space transportation system, using a ribbon-like cable, or a tether, anchored to the surface and extending into space. Subsonic: Relating to or flying at a speed less than the speed of sound. SUGAR Volt: A hybrid aircraft concept using two hybrid turbofans that burn conventional jet fuel when taking off, then use electric motors to power the engines while flying. Supersonic: Involving or denoting a speed greater than the speed of sound. Swept wing: A wing form favored for high subsonic and supersonic speeds, with a "swept" (or swept back) wing root to wingtip direction angled beyond (usually aftward) the span-wise axis. Tau Ceti e: An unconfirmed planet that may be orbiting the nearby Sun-like star Tau Ceti at a distance of 11.905 light years from the Sun. It is considered the nearest potentially habitable planet. Transonic: Denoting or relating to speeds nearing the speed of sound. Riptych: A picture or video on three panels, typically hinged together side by side. Turbojet: A jet engine in which the jet gases also operate a turbine-driven compressor for compressing the air drawn into the engine. Whipple Shield: A type of hypervelocity impact shield used to protect manned and unmanned spacecraft from collisions with micrometeoroids and orbital debris whose velocities generally range between 3 and 18 kilometers per second; similar to the shielding used on the International Space Station. Wind tunnel: A tool used in aerodynamic research to study the effects of air moving past solid objects. Wing warping: An early system used in roll control of a fixed-wing aircraft in order to make turns. X-15: A rocket-powered aircraft operated by the USAF and NASA as part of the X-plane series of experimental aircraft begun in the 1960s; as of 2014, the X-15 holds the official world record for the highest speed ever reached by a manned, powered aircraft—4,520 miles per hour. X-43A: An unmanned, experimental hypersonic aircraft designed by NASA; it is the fastest aircraft ever built, currently holding the fastest flight speed record. X-51: An unmanned demonstration aircraft for testing. X-Planes: A series of experimental United States airplanes and helicopters (and some rockets) used to test and evaluate new technologies and aerodynamic concepts. Abbreviations ADA: Americans with Disabilities Act (provides guidelines for exhibition design) AR: Augmented reality BWB: Blended wing body CFD: Computational fluid dynamics (a branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical methods and algorithms to solve and analyze problems that involve fluid flows). DARPA: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency EVA: GEO: Geosynchronous Earth orbit (where satellites orbit at the same speed as the Earth’s rotation) HUD: Head-up display ISS: International Space Station IVA: Intravehicular activity MEMS: Microelectromechanical Systems (miniaturization of technology) SEP: Solar Electric Propulsion SLS: Space Launch System SUGAR: Subsonic Ultra Green Aircraft Research UAVs: Unmanned aerial vehicle ULA: United Launch Alliance VTOL: Vertical takeoff and landing # # #