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Air & Space Magazine

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Two Dozen Exoplanets that Might be More Habitable than Earth

Do we need to change our search parameters when looking for extraterrestrial life?

Luftwaffe fighter pilot Erich Hartmann was exceedingly good at aerial combat.

Erich Hartmann, the Most Successful Fighter Pilot of All Time

A new book examines the life of the WWII German ace.

The Ultimi Scopuli region on Mars, as seen (in black-and-white and enhanced color) by the HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

More Lakes Found Under the Martian Ice

But would such cold places be habitable?

Astronaut Karen Nyberg enjoys the magnificent view from the ISS Cupola in 2013.

Work, Float, Eat, Dream: Life on the International Space Station

We asked some of the people who’ve spent the most time on the ISS: What’s it like up there?

Andrea and Kevin Eldridge report for another day at the office, an American Airlines Boeing 737. They have also shared the cockpit of a Luscombe 8 and a B-25.

When Your Co-Pilot Is Also Your Spouse

One family, two airline pilots.

This 3-D rendition shows two coronae on the surface of Venus. They are formed from magma bursting through the crust—a process similar to the one that formed the Hawaiian Islands millions of years ago on Earth.

Not Only Does Venus Hold the Possibility of Life, It Has Active Volcanoes, Too

Our planetary neighbor has been giving up lots of secrets lately.

An Australian ARH Tiger attack helicopter was able to land on the beach and deliver supplies to three castaways on tiny Pikelot Island. Their S.O.S. message was spotted by the U.S. crew of a KC-135 Stratotanker.

Marooned on a Tiny Pacific Island, These Sailors Were Spotted by a KC-135

When a small boat vanished in the Pacific, U.S. forces took to the air and mounted a desperate search.

The International Space Station: In 2019, nine residents from four countries hang out with a poster of Yuri Gagarin.

The ISS Has Made Us a Space-Dwelling Species

Celebrating 20 years of continuous human presence in orbit.

The Museum’s F-86A was assigned to the 4th Fighter Interceptor Group at Langley Air Force Base in Virgina in July 1949, and shipped out for action in Korea in December 1950. It flew its combat sorties from Kimpo Air Base near Seoul.

The F-86 Sabre, Hero of the Early Jet Age

America’s first swept-wing fighter won the skies over North Korea.

An Air Force B-1B Lancer flies over Qatar on October 25, 2019. Named “Bone” by its pilots, the B-1 handles, they say, more like a fighter than a bomber and is the only U.S. bomber that can fly past Mach 1.

Scorned at First, These Seven Airplanes (Finally) Proved Their Mettle

Did they defy skeptics, or just outlast them?

Just before deployment on May 24, 2019, the first 60 Starlink test satellites rest in a stack before separation from the Falcon 9 second stage. There is no dispenser mechanism; as one SpaceX controller put it, “they slowly fan out like a deck of cards into space.”

SpaceX Wants to Conquer the Internet

But can Starlink overcome the ghosts of satellite constellations past?

Life imitates art: The lighting at New York’s Idlewild Airport, which officials in the 1960s believed vulnerable to spies smuggling A-bombs, gave it the look of a film-noir set for a movie about spies smuggling bombs.

Block That Bomb: How Cold Warriors Stopped Nuclear Smuggling

With the dawn of the atomic age came a highly classified operation to intercept nuclear explosives at U.S. airports.

The Flagship Washington was one of the DC-4s that American Airlines used for its transatlantic passenger service. The sleek “landplane” was faster and safer than the passenger seaplanes that preceded it.

The Dawn of Transatlantic Flight

Modern passenger service across the ocean began on October 23, 1945, a date that will live in obscurity.

The B-29 bomber’s Plexiglas nose was the obvious inspiration for the space freighter Millennium Falcon. Special effects artists replaced the blue screen with stars only in post-production; on set, the actors had to imagine them.

The Real Aerial Battles That Inspired Star Wars

Born one year before the end of World War II, George Lucas turned a boyhood fascination into a space epic.

BOEING B-29 SUPERFORTRESS The bomber that ended the war; the only one ever to drop atomic bombs in combat. Long, slender fuselage; tail like a B-17’s.

How to ID the Warbirds

A Wing 7000 drone makes a delivery to a Christiansburg home from its designated 23-foot hover altitude, where it will lower the up to three-pound package on a breakaway tether. It flies 130 feet above ground level.

One of the World’s First Delivery Drones Is Now a Museum Piece

The first to deliver coffee, clothes, and medicine takes its place in history.

Artist's concept of a lightning strike on Venus.

The Likelihood of Life on Venus Just Increased Dramatically

A sample-return mission to our planetary neighbor should now be considered.

A nursery for hundreds of baby stars is revealed in this infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.

Test Your Knowledge: The Color of Space, Spacey Perfume, and More

Underneath the cracked ice of Jupiter's moon Europa, there is likely a global ocean. Bluish ice in this Galileo spacecraft image is more pure water ice, while the reddish areas are ice mixed with other substances.

Exploring Alien Oceans

Extraterrestrial seas may be the next frontier for planetary science.

Terry Virts, who commanded Expedition 43 on the International Space Station, documents the enviable view from the station’s cupola.

Six and a Half Months in Orbit: Junk Food and Sublime Moments

In his new book, astronaut Terry Virts discusses the highs and lows of a long-duration tour on the space station.

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