Portal:Engineering/Previous pictures

Selected pictures are images from engineering-related articles that we feel match the following four criteria. These images should:


 * illustrate a complex or unusual topic elegantly


 * be of sufficiently high quality and resolution to be displayed at 300x300 pixels (or so)


 * portray an aspect of engineering currently or previously employed (no science fiction)


 * be aesthetically pleasing, and invite the user to learn more about the topic

Previous images and their accompanied text are included below, in chronological order.

Previous images
6 September 2005 - 22 June 2006



A radome is a weatherproof enclosure used to protect an antenna. It is used mainly to prevent ice (especially freezing rain) from accumulating directly onto the metal surface of the antenna. In the case of a spinning radar dish antenna, the radome also protects from debris and rotational irregularities due to wind. On aircraft in addition to giving protection, the radome streamlines the antenna reducing drag. (Credit U.S. Navy, )

22 June 2006 - 22 June 2006

In physics, a wormhole (also known as Abbreviated Space) is a hypothetical topological feature of spacetime that is essentially a "shortcut" or "abbreviation" through space and time. A wormhole has at least two mouths which are connected to a single throat. If the wormhole is traversable, matter can 'travel' from one mouth to the other by passing through the throat.

22 June 2006 - 28 July 2006

A robot is a mechanical device that can perform preprogrammed physical tasks. A robot may act under the direct control of a human (eg. the robotic arm of the Space Shuttle) or autonomously under the control of a pre-programmed computer. Robots may be used to perform tasks that are too dangerous or difficult for humans to implement directly (e.g. the Space Shuttle arm) or may be used to automate repetitive tasks that can be performed more cheaply by a robot than by the employment of a human (e.g. automobile production).

28 July 2006 - 26 November 2006

The Saturn V (popularly known as the Moon Rocket) was a multistage liquid-fuel expendable rocket used by NASA's Apollo and Skylab programs. The largest production model of the Saturn family of rockets, the Saturn V was designed under the direction of Wernher von Braun at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, with Boeing, North American Aviation, Douglas Aircraft Company, and IBM as the lead contractors.

26 November 2006 - 15 August 2007

The Beijing National Aquatics Centre, also known as the Water Cube, is an aquatics centre that is currently being built alongside Beijing National Stadium in the Olympic Green for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Ground was broken on December 24, 2003. The Aquatics Centre will host the swimming, diving, synchronized swimming and water polo events during the Olympics. It will have a capacity of 17,000 during the games that will be reduced to 6,000 afterwards. It also has a total land surface of 65,000 square metres.

15 August 2007 -

The Beijing National Aquatics Centre, also known as the Water Cube, is an aquatics centre that is currently being built alongside Beijing National Stadium in the Olympic Green for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Ground was broken on December 24, 2003. The Aquatics Centre will host the swimming, diving, synchronized swimming and water polo events during the Olympics. It will have a capacity of 17,000 during the games that will be reduced to 6,000 afterwards. It also has a total land surface of 65,000 square metres.