Flight




Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be achieved by generating aerodynamic lift associated with propulsive thrust, aerostatically using buoyancy, or by ballistic movement.

Many things can fly, from natural aviators such as birds, bats and insects, to human inventions like aircraft, including airplanes, helicopters, balloons, and rockets which may carry spacecraft.

The engineering aspects of flight are the purview of aerospace engineering which is subdivided into aeronautics, the study of vehicles that travel through the air, and astronautics, the study of vehicles that travel through space, and ballistics, the study of the flight of projectiles.

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