Smithsonian Voices

From the Smithsonian Museums

Carruthers holding one of the film cassettes that the astronauts brought back from the moon from his lunar camera/sectrograph. (NASA)

George Robert Carruthers: Astronautical Engineer and Astronomer

Two prominent lobate thrust fault scarps on Mercury, Discovery Rupes and Beagles Rupes, imaged by Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) on the MESSENGER spacecraft. Discovery Rupes (left), named for the ship HMS Discovery, shown here in a MDIS high-incidence angle image mosaic, was first imaged by Mariner 10 in the mid-1970’s. Beagle Rupes (right), a bow-shaped fault scarp, was initial imaged during MESSENGER’s first flyby.

Mercury, The Not So Shrunken Planet

NASA astronaut and Pilot Victor Glover launched from the International Space Station on the agency’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission. (SpaceX)

Five Things We Learned from Victor Glover

A low-lying topographic depression known as Margaritifer basin. (Sharon A. Wilson, John A. Grant, and Kevin K. Williams (2020), Geologic Map of Morava Valles and Margaritifer basin, Mars, MTM Quadrangles -10022 and -15022, 1:500,000 scale, USGS Scientific Investigations Map, in press.)

Geologic Maps: Where Science Meets Art

The waxing gibbous Moon as we viewed it on December 3, 2011.

The Moon: Before We Knew

The Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Surface System Test-Bed (SSTB) is nearly identical to the MER twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity that landed on Mars in 2004. Photo by Mark Avino, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM2020-00501).

A Mars Rover Lands in Virginia

Artist's concept of Mars 2020 rover with sample tubes.

Why NASA Is Headed Back to Mars with Mars Rover Perseverance

The Hope spacecraft of the United Arab Emirates' Emirates Mars Mission during testing.

Launching Hope to Mars

Alma W. Thomas, Blast Off, 1970, acrylic on canvas, 74 x 54 inches

The Art of Alma W. Thomas: A Colorful Response

This American flag was left on the International Space Station by the crew of STS-135, the last space shuttle mission, with the intention of it being retrieved by the next crew to launch from American soil.

Launching Astronauts from American Soil: Why is it Important?

Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley walk through Crew Access Arm in SpaceX spacesuits during a dress rehearsal for the first crewed SpaceX launch.

SpaceX Dragon Launch and Entry Suits

Space X's Crew Dragon spacecraft, which is part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

Redefining How NASA Gets into Space

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in the days before the first crewed launch of the Crew Dragon spacecraft.

Launch Complex 39: From Saturn to Shuttle to SpaceX and SLS

Al Worden visits his Apollo 15 spacesuit at the National Air and Space Museum.

Our Friend Al Who Went to the Moon: Remembering Al Worden

A hand touching the Museum's lunar touchrock. Part of a photo series by Museum photographer Jim Preston.

Touching a Piece of the Moon

A set of Star Wars toys manufactured for the release of The Empire Strikes Back, 1980. This set was donated to the Museum in 1997 from a private donor, Michael O’Harro. Credit: Eric Long, National Air and Space Museum.

Star Wars: A Merchandising Empire

Backup spacecraft for Telstar, the world's first active communications satellite. Telstar 1 began an era of live international television. After its launch on July 10, 1962, it relayed television images between the United States and France and England.

That’s no moon. (It's also not the Death Star.)

An R2-D2 action figure issued for The Empire Strikes Back. Credit: National Air and Space Museum.

How Star Wars Revolutionized Entertainment

Return-to-Earth specialist Poppy Northcutt during the Apollo program.

Calculating Trajectories and Breaking Boundaries During Apollo

Zeiss Projector in the Albert Einstein Planetarium at the National Air and Space Museum, weeks before being deinstalled.

Farewell to the Zeiss Planetarium Projector

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