Take to the skies—and learn the secrets of aerodynamics firsthand—by building and launching your own aircraft, from glider prototypes to high-flying rockets.
Tackle the same challenges faced by aeronautical engineers using curiosity, science, and creative problem-solving to boost the performance of aircraft. Through a series of hands-on engineering projects, you’ll use concepts like lift, drag, thrust, and flow to develop rockets that fly straighter longer, calibrate projectiles to hit a distant target, and design streamlined gliders that soar through the air. Build and test your own creations over a sequence of launches, observing and analyzing critical moments of failure and success. With experimentation, persistence, and some outside-the-box thinking, you’ll design enhanced aircraft that can travel farther, higher, and faster.
What you'll do
Engineering + Physics, Medieval Style
Use EXPLO’s custom-made trebuchets to explore the laws of projectile physics and see firsthand the factors that yield the most impressive launches.
Raise Your Glide Path
Create a soaring glider using lightweight materials. Then, test your prototype and tweak your design for optimal lift and extended flight.
Pumped-Up Projectiles
Create paper rockets propelled by a short burst of air. Then, put your creations to the test to identify the best fin placement, nose cone shape, and rocket length for your future designs.
Fuel Up + Blast Off
Achieving fuel efficiency was never this fun: explore the power of chemical propulsion as you experiment with, and launch, your own rocket designs.
