Rocket science

Rocket science is an informal term for aerospace engineering. It is the science and technology of flight.

Due to the complexity and depth of this area of engineering (requiring mastery in subjects including mechanics (fluid mechanics, structural mechanics, orbital mechanics), flight dynamics, physics, mathematics, control engineering, materials science, aeroelasticity, avionics, reliability engineering, noise control and flight test), it is also informally used, much like brain surgery, as a term to describe an endeavor requiring great intelligence or technical ability.

Often the term is used mockingly, such as in the expression "it's not rocket science" or "this isn't rocket science" to indicate that the task is simple (one of the top ten irritating phrases, according to research at Oxford)^[1] or "it doesn't take a rocket scientist". It is also used in the ironic understatement "He/she is not a rocket scientist" to describe a person who is simple-minded.

Rocket science may also refer to:

• Rocket Science Games, a video game development company
• Rocket Science VFX, a Canadian visual effects production company
• Rocket Science (novel), a novel by Jay Lake
• Rocket Science (miniseries), a 2002 documentary series, released on DVD-video in 2004
• Rocket Science (film), a 2007 comedy film
• Rocket Science (TV series), a 2009 BBC television series

In music:

• Rocket science music, a music sales and marketing company
• Rocket Science (band), an Australian alternative rock band
• Rocket Science (Apoptygma Berzerk album)
• Rocket Science (Hugh Blumenfeld album), by folk artist Hugh Blumenfeld
• Rocket Science (Tribal Tech album), by the jazz fusion band Tribal Tech

References

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