Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Air & Space Magazine

Michelle Ham with astronaut Ken Ham and a student team from Renfrewshire, Scotland.

Kids, Your Science Project Advisor is an Astronaut

Michelle Ham teams students with the space travelers she once trained at NASA.

None

Alaskan Falcons

A pair of F-16 Fighting Falcons sit in a hangar at Eielson Air Force Base, where joint forces train for possible operations in the Pacific theater.

Watching Friday’s Eclipse—From the Stratosphere

A Spanish company plans to capture first-of-its-kind video of the March 20 eclipse.

None

Iceland Eruption

NASA’s Aqua satellite took this false-color image of Icelandic volcano Bardabunga erupting last August.

None

Ryan PT-22 Recruit

Weightless, Not Stirred

A Kickstarter campaign for a martini glass that works in microgravity.

None

Maintenance and Exercise

A pair of aircraft maintainers cover the engine of a KC-135 Stratotanker post flight.

None

Yutu Peers Inside the Moon

Data from the Chinese Chang’E 3 lander show what’s under the lunar surface.

None

Orion Glow

Back in December 2014, a Delta IV Heavy rocket sat on the launchpad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station awaiting its launch for the first test flight of NASA’s Orion spacecraft.

Mars used to be a water world.

Mars Once Had an Ocean—A Big One

Newly published results may just seal the case.

Different night, same result. Tokyo burns during a raid on May 26, 1945.

The Deadliest Air Raid in History

The firebombing of Tokyo on March 9, 1945 marked the beginning of the end for Imperial Japan.

Solar Impulse on its first test flight over the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi

Sun-Powered Airplane Begins Round-The-World Flight

Solar Impulse is already out of gas. And that’s a good thing.

None

Puppis Post Supernova

The Chandra X-Ray Telescope took this image of Puppis A after it exploded in a supernova.

Mars, sometime in the near future.

Journey to Space 3D Opens at IMAX Theaters

A new big-screen film documents the progress of NASA’s next big adventure.

None

Super Snow Galaxy

A C-5M Super Galaxy gets a coating of snow at Dover Air Force Base.

None

Loops Lining Up

Arcing loops reach between north and south poles of magnetic regions clustered near each other on the sun.

None

NACA Founded 100 Years Ago

NASA’s predecessor made aeronautical breakthroughs that changed the course of aviation history.

Dawn returned this image of Ceres on February 19, showing two bright spots in the center of a crater. One is twice as bright as the other. But what are they?

Dawn Spacecraft Closes in on Ceres

Soon we’ll find out what those mysterious bright spots are.

Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti pays her respects on the space station.

Even Cosmonauts Liked the Vulcan Greeting

The three present-day variations of the Medal of Honor, from left: Army; Coast Guard/Navy/Marine Corps; Air Force.

For Service Above and Beyond

Pilots who won the Medal of Honor, from WWI to Vietnam.

Page 103 of 320