The students, faculty and staff in the MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics share a passion for air and space vehicles, the technologies that enable them, and the missions they fulfill. Our environment is connected, busy, global, hectic, open, collegial ... and fun.
Demonstration of Fraunhofer diffraction by a single slit Demonstration of Fraunhofer diffraction by two slits Demonstration of Fraunhofer diffraction by three slits Demonstration of Fraunhofer diffraction by four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and more slits Demonstration of Fraunhofer ...
Demonstration of Fraunhofer diffraction by a fixed rectangular aperture Demonstration of Fraunhofer diffraction by an adjustable rectangular aperture
Demonstration of Fraunhofer diffraction by a thin wire Demonstration of Fraunhofer diffraction by thin wires with different diameters
Demonstration of Fraunhofer diffraction by a single slit Demonstration of Fraunhofer diffraction by pairs of 150 μm slits with spacings ranging from 150 μm to 2 mm
Demonstration of Fresnel diffraction by a fixed slit Demonstration of Fresnel diffraction by an adjustable slit Observation of the transition from Fresnel to Fraunhofer diffraction using an adjustable slit
Demonstration of Fresnel diffraction by a circular aperture using a spatially filtered laser source Demonstration of Fresnel diffraction by circular apertures with different diameters Demonstration of Fresnel diffraction by a circular aperture as a function of source ...
Demonstration of two-beam interference in a Michelson interferometer with collimated beams Effect of intensity difference between interfering beams on fringe contrast
Demonstration of two-beam interference in a Michelson interferometer with collimated beams Demonstration of the effect of path length difference (0-100 cm) on fringe contrast Demonstration of the spectrum of the light source, in this case, a multilongitudinal mode He-Ne laser Relationship ...
Demonstration of two-beam interference in a Michelson interferometer with collimated beams Determination of the state of polarization in each arm of the interferometer Demonstration of the rotation of the plane of polarization in one arm of the interferometer using a ...
Demonstration of two-beam interference in a Michelson interferometer with collimated beams Effect of vibrations on fringe contrast
In June 2009, NASA created the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee and charged it with conducting "an independent review of ongoing U.S. human space flight plans and programs, as well as alternatives, to ensure the Nation is pursuing the best trajectory ...
During a recent tour, General Electric showed off a slew of manufacturing and production innovations aimed at staying competitive in one of its core businesses.
What is the legacy of the Apollo program, and what can we learn from it to help us confront the scientific and engineering challenges of our own time?
Alumni astronauts (from left) Mike Fincke, Cady Coleman, and Greg Chamitoff send greetings to MIT from the International Space Station in this video, downlinked from the ISS in May 2011. Cady was winding up a six-month stay on station; Mike and Greg had recently ...
Chair: Steve Robinson Co-Chair: Sasha Efremov Panelists: Judith Burki-Cohen, Jim Lackner, Paul DiZio, John Tylko, Jay Buckey, Conrad Wall
Description of a half-wave plate Use of a half-wave plate to rotate the plane of polarization from zero to ninety degrees with very little loss Demonstration that there is no change in the state of polarization when propagating along either principal axis of the half-wave plate
The wind Tunnel has proven instrumental in the examination of aerospace, architectural, vehicular, sports and other engineering systems
Demonstration of the operation on an argon ion laser Demonstration of the high intensity in the argon laser beam by burning a hole in cardboard with an unfocused laser beam
STS-61 was the first Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission and launched on Dec. 2, 1993.
