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National Air and Space Museum

Smithsonian Voices

A large hand-carved teakwood chest with scalloped edges and four round feet. The chest appears to be stained a rich reddish brown. The front panel on the chest has a bas-relief globe pattern flanked by a pair of airplane wings.

This Trophy Chest Belonged to Amelia Earhart

A husband's holiday present for his famous wife is now a museum artifact.

Dorothy Cochrane | March 27, 2025

A 65-year-old Black woman sits in the left seat of an airliner cockpit. She is smiling and wearing an airline captain's uniform, including a white shirt and a hat.

Meet the U.S. Air Force's First Black Female Pilot

Theresa Claiborne looks back on her outstanding career in military and civil aviation

Diane Tedeschi | November 11, 2024

Four military jets fly in a diamond formation across a blue sky. On the underside of each jet's wings, "US Navy" is painted in bold yellow letters. White airshow smoke streams from each jet. The moon is visible in the sky.

The Blue Angels Get Their First Female Jet Demonstration Pilot

Air & Space Quarterly talks to Blue Angels pilot Amanda Lee

Diane Tedeschi | July 19, 2024

Dorothy Cochrane with Extra 260

Why Would a Museum Hang an Airplane Upside Down?

The inverted display of Patty Wagstaff's Extra 260 celebrates her aerobatic career

Dorothy Cochrane | November 19, 2023
A20070119001cp02-2.jpg

Barbie: An Astronaut for the Ages

There is perhaps no résumé in existence quite as long as Barbie’s. One of her oldest and arguably most iconic careers is as an astronaut. Let's take a look through some of her most iconic space looks, spanning 1965 to today.

Jenna Bertschi | July 19, 2023
Vera Rubin and Kent Ford (white hat) setting up their image tube spectrograph at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. (Photo: THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTION FOR SCIENCE)

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory and Women of Chilean Astronomy

The Vara C. Rubin Observatory is perched on Chile's Cerro Pachon in the foothills of the Andes Mountains and stands as a doorway to exploring the women of Chilean astronomy.

Samantha Thompson | April 12, 2021
Christina Koch (left) poses for a portrait with Jessica Meir while preparing for their first spacewalk together. (Image courtesy of NASA)

A Seat in the Cockpit: Recognizing and Replacing Biases with Gender Inclusive Language

The era of "manned" spaceflight ended long ago, and the continued use of this language diminishes and erases six decades of women's contributions to spaceflight

Emily A. Margolis | April 5, 2021
Ruth Law stands in front of her Wright Model B biplane at the New York State Fair, Yonkers, 1913.

Women's Suffrage Stories in the Archives

On August 18, 2020, the United States celebrates the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which declared that the right to vote "shall not be denied...on account of sex." Several collections in the National Air and Space Museum Archives provide short stories along the long path of the women’s suffrage movement and the 19th Amendment.

Elizabeth Borja | August 19, 2020
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