Astronautics, or astronautical engineering,'s the branch of engineering that deals with machines designed to exit or work entirely beyond the Earth's atmosphere. In other words, it's the science and technology of space flight. Overview The term astronautics was coined by analogy with aeronautics. As there's a certain degree of technology overlapping between the two fields, the term aerospace's often used to describe them both. As with aeronautics, the restrictions of mass, temperatures, and exte… (More on Astronautics)