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Air & Space Magazine

In 1958, NACA facilities, like Ohio’s Lewis Research Center, were re-labeled NASA centers.

I Was There: “The Tremendous Potential of Rocketry”

Jimmy Doolittle remembers the birth of the U.S. space program.

Head on, the Boomerang may be hard to fathom, but it’s easy to control — even if one engine quits.

Burt Rutan’s Favorite Ride

The Boomerang could be the safest twin ever built

A Rubenesque Princess emerges from a hangar on the Isle of Wight in 1951.

Cancelled: Princess, Dethroned

A British aircraft company could not give up the ship.

When John Glenn (here looking through a training device) became the first American to orbit Earth, a yaw thruster caused attitude control problems, so he flew the last leg manually. Half a century later, spaceflight still requires both automation and human skill.

The Astronaut Question

How long will humans remain better than robots at exploration?

Since 1966, thermodynamics engineer Pete Law has been showing up at the National Championship Air Races in Reno, Nevada, with his toolbox and a career’s worth of knowledge about cooling systems.

How Reno Racers Keep Their Cool

At the Reno air races, pilots know that to go fast, you have to stay cool. That’s where Pete Law comes in.

The original Hubble cost billions. The new mirrors, at least, are free.

Anyone Need a Hubble Telescope?

NASA puzzles over what to do with a rare gift

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Flying in Style

Happy 10th Birthday, Learjet 40.

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Flying the DC-10

The jet airliner has been flying for 42 years today. 

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Flutter: Fast and Fatal

Aerodynamic flutter can be deadly, but it wasn’t until recently that it was even understood

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Keep Looking Up

Goodbye, Neil Armstrong.

Armstrong in the cockpit of the X-15 in 1961, a year before becoming an astronaut.

Neil Armstrong, In His Own Words

The first moonwalker’s storied aviation career didn’t begin or end with Apollo.

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Passing of an Era

Neil Armstrong will always be remembered for his “one small step” but his contributions to spaceflight are numerous

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Smooth Like Whiskey

Spacetime may not be “foamy” like some theories have suggested.

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A Cheap Date

Determining rock ages remotely would create new possibilities for planetary science

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Ready for Launch

Two probes, ready for launch, will study our planet’s radiation belt. 

Phyllis Diller arrives at Korat Air Base, Thailand, with the Bob Hope Christmas show, 1966.

Remembering Phyllis Diller

A story from when the famed comedian joined Bob Hope on his USO tours

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Invisible Plane

The amazing stealth Cessna.

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Unusually Round

The sun provides yet another mystery to solve.

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750 Meters Later

Masten Space System’s test vehicle, Xombie, took a nice ride this week

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Carlotta, the Lady Aeronaut

An 1880 balloon jaunt ends with our heroine up a tree

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