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The USS <i>Akron</i> takes a morning flight over Maxwell Army Air Field in Alabama, June 13, 1932.

History of Flight

Lighter Than Air

An illustrated history of balloons and airships.
By Tom D. Crouch

In NASA jargon, it’s called “egress” — the moment an astronaut leaves the hatch to begin a spacewalk (here, during shuttle mission STS-92 in 2000).

Space Exploration

Step Outside

Shuck the spacecraft. 182 spacewalkers have.
By Tony Reichhardt

“Efforts to keep down our air power were begun as soon as the sound of the cannon had ceased on the Western Front in 1919,” said Mitchell (second from right).

History of Flight

The Billy Mitchell Court-Martial

Courtroom sketches from aviation's Trial of the Century.
By Rebecca Maksel

History of Flight

The Dawn of Discipline

A B-47 pilot remembers when an airplane—and Curtis LeMay—stiffened the spine of the Strategic Air Command
By Walter J. Boyne

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Grumman workers pose with one of their lunar modules (LM-12) at the companys plant in Bethpage, New York, May 1971.

Space Exploration

Apollo’s Army

It took 400,000 people, working under extreme pressure, to reach the moon in 1969. Like any army, they suffered casualties.
By The Editors

Keepin’ it real: Firemen at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport brave smoke in a mockup many mistake for an airplane.

Flight Today

Fire Hazard

Where there’s smoke, there’s pollution. How can airport firefighters green it up?
By Sam Goldberg

At a 2008 motorcar and aircraft show in West Sussex, England, The Six and its pilot, Julian Firth (in white flightsuit), greet dignitaries such as Norman Turnball (left), the aircraft’s flight engineer from 1959 to 1964.

History of Flight

The Six

If Lockheed’s Constellation was the hare, the Douglas DC-6 was the oh-so-reliable tortoise.
By Kara Platoni

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Vi Cowden during her service with the WASPs in the 1940s.

History of Flight

We Represented All Women

During World War II, WASPs proved that an airplane couldn’t tell the difference between a male and female pilot.
By Jonna Dootlittle Hoppes

Two decades after the scare, a zeppelin over the Thames was a fact of life. Here, the Graf Zeppelin, a commercial passenger ship, plies London’s skies.

History of Flight

Fear of Floating

Diagnosis: Collective Panic Attack. Cause: Count von Zeppelin.
By Dan Vergano

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Testing the AiResearch Advanced Extravehicular Suit’s range of motion in the 1960s.

Space Exploration

Space Suits Past and Future

Bill Elkins has been outfitting astronauts since before NASA was born.
By Michael Klesius

While UAVs help scientists conduct research (here, studying potato blight), they require a hefty entourage of operators on the ground.

Flight Today

Unmanned Traffic Jam

To the Federal Aviation Administration, civilian UAVs are the new barbarians at the gate.
By Douglas Gantenbein

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Watchman Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) with Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams) in <i>Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.</i>

Flight Today

The Smithsonian’s Hollywood Moment

The makers of Night at the Museum took great pains to get it right.
By Rebecca Maksel

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In the Magazine

July 2009

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Photo Essay

Hubble's Finest

An astronomer picks his favorite images from the storied telescope.

Air & Space Interview

A&S Interview: Captain Eric Brown

Holder of the Guinness World Record for most types of aircraft flown

Need to Know

Did Australians light signal fires for the astronauts?

And would they have been visible from space?

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