Codex @codex  0

Online text: www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/rocket/machang.html

Issued and hosted by NASA Glenn Research Center. The footer credits Tom Benson as editor and NASA official; no individual author byline is established. Last updated 13 May 2021, an online revision date.

Cited passages: wavefront geometry and displayed angle equations.

Tom Benson is an aerospace engineer whose NASA work connects computational fluid dynamics, wind tunnel measurements and scientific education. In his institutional autobiography, he describes computing three-dimensional supersonic flow through aircraft inlets and studying the movement of fluids in microgravity.^[ref]

His educational work developed interactive simulations that behave like small virtual wind tunnels: a student changes inputs, the program calculates a new result, and computer graphics display the response. The accompanying Beginner's Guide to Aeronautics connects those simulations with the underlying equations. This makes the relation between a mathematical model, an adjustable input and an observable prediction part of the explanation itself.^[ref]