Aeronautics and Astronautics

Professors, students, and researchers come to MIT from all corners of the globe to explore their passion for air and space travel and to advance the technologies and vehicles that make such travel possible. We build on our long tradition of scholarship and research to develop and implement reliable, safe, economically feasible, and environmentally responsible air and space travel.

Our industry contributions and collaborations are extensive. We have graduated more astronauts than any other private institution in the world. Nearly one-third of our current research collaborations are with MIT faculty in other departments, and approximately one-half are with non-MIT colleagues in professional practice, government agencies, and other universities. We work closely with scientists and scholars at NASA, Boeing, the U.S. Air Force, Stanford University, Lockheed Martin, and the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Our educational programs are organized around three overlapping areas:

• Aerospace information engineering

  Focuses on real-time, safety-critical systems with humans-in-the-loop. Core disciplines include autonomy, software, communications, networks, controls, and human-machine and human-software interaction.

• Aerospace systems engineering

  Explores the central processes in the creation, implementation, and operation of complex socio-technical engineering systems. Core disciplines include system architecture and engineering, simulation and modeling, safety and risk management, policy, economics, and organizational behavior.

• Aerospace vehicles engineering

  Addresses the engineering of air and space vehicles, their propulsion systems, and their subsystems. Core disciplines include fluid and solid mechanics, thermodynamics, acoustics, combustion, controls, computation, design, and simulation.

Graduate Education

Graduate students in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics have myriad opportunities for in-depth study, research, and collaboration. They work closely with some of the brightest, most motivated minds in industry and academia, from NASA astronauts to the faculty at MIT and other leading institutions. Students may conduct research in one of our many internal labs and centers, or in a lab affiliated with another department.

Our graduate alumni are leaders in private industry, government service, and education. They start their own businesses, inform the policies that shape aerospace research and development, and teach and inspire the next generation of leaders in the aerospace field.

Degree Options

The Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics offers the following graduate degree programs:

• Master of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics

  This two-year degree program prepares students for an advanced position in the aerospace field and provides a solid foundation for doctoral study. Students are required to complete a thesis and related research or design experience.

• Doctoral degree

  The PhD and ScD emphasize in-depth study, with a significant research project in a focused area. Students must complete an individual course of study, submit and defend a thesis proposal, and submit and defend a thesis of original research. We offer doctoral degrees in a range of subjects, from aeroelasticity to plasma physics.

Students may also choose to participate in several interdisciplinary degree programs affiliated with the AeroAstro department, including:

• Computation for Design and Optimization, for students interested in computational approaches to the design and operation engineered systems
• Leaders for Global Operations, a two-year dual-degree program leading to both an SM in AeroAstro and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management designed for students with two or more years of work experience who aspire to leadership positions in manufacturing or operations companies
• System Design and Management, a partnership among industry, government, and MIT for educating technologically grounded leaders of 21st-century enterprises

Additional interdisciplinary study programs AeroAstro students participate in are:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Flight Transportation
• Technology and Policy Program