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Air & Space Magazine

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, under construction in May 2019, promises to reveal more objects faster than any previous telescope. The photo was taken from Gemini South, another large telescope on Chile’s Cerro Pachón mountaintop, a popular site due to its dry air and excellent astronomical “seeing.”

Forget Still Pictures. This New Observatory Will Make Astronomy Videos

The Universe in time-lapse.

At the dawn of the 19th century, balloon flight was still a novelty, and women aviators even more so. A few pioneers like Jeanne Geneviève Garnerin (depicted here during an 1802 flight in France) had been aloft. But as of October 1825, no American woman had flown.

The First Woman to Fly in America

In 1825, a balloonist named “Madame Johnson” took to the skies over New York. Who was she?

The surface of the asteroid Bennu, as seen in close-up by the Osiris-Rex spacecraft. Boulders this size (the largest, at upper left, is 48 feet wide) pose a danger to the touch-and-go mission.

NASA Is About to Grab an Asteroid Sample and Bring it Home

The Osiris-Rex spacecraft is on its way to fetch souvenirs from the birth of the solar system.

The Boeing 727 had a long, proud history. The one that a drunken flight crew flew from Fargo, North Dakota on March 8, 1990, landed safely in Minneapolis. The impact of that flight is still felt in professional aviation.

For Pilots Struggling With Alcoholism, It Doesn’t Have to Be a Career-Ender

Lyle Prouse was trained to maintain control in the air, but he had to learn to do it in life.

In the hands of Charles Carpenter, the meek Grasshopper turned fierce.

Bazooka Charlie and the Grasshopper: A Tale of World War II

The most famous small airplane of the war is about to fly again.

The F-86 Sabre was a mainstay for the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War.

Korea, the First Jet War

It was a long, hard fight for both the communist and United Nations jet pilots who battled for the right to rule MiG alley.

Al Worden during a countdown demonstration in preparation for his Apollo 15 flight in 1971.

Al Worden, the Poet of Apollo 15

For this moon voyager, technical debriefings weren’t fulfilling enough.

Electron microscope image of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the United States.

There Are More Viruses on Earth Than There Are Stars in the Universe

And yes, they’re alive.

Viola Gentry, just minutes after her flight under the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, March 14, 1926.

A Female Aviator in 1926 Needed a Stunt. So She Flew Under the Brooklyn Bridge.

Ninety-four years ago this week, Viola Gentry decided to make a name for herself.

The European Space Agency’s Exomars rover, named Rosalind Franklin for the scientist who helped discern the structure of DNA, is due to land on Mars next year.

A New Way to Test for Life on Mars

The presence of sulfur-rich organic compounds may help in the search for Martian biology.

Betelgeuse (as seen here by the ALMA telescope) is going to blow sometime. It's just a question of when.

The Threat From Stellar Explosions

Betelgeuse is harmless, but other stars going supernova could spell death for Earth.

Four billion years ago, things were a little different around here.

What Was it Really Like on Early Earth?

New studies point to the conditions under which life originated on our planet.

Artist's conception of a hydrocarbon lake on Titan.

On Saturn’s Moon Titan, Living Cells May Be Very Different From Ours

Yet another good reason to visit this exotic world.

Artist's conception of Proxima b orbiting its red dwarf star. Now we know of two planets around Proxima Centauri.

The Closest Solar System to Earth is Even Weirder Than We Thought

But that doesn’t mean the Centauri system harbors life.

Mike Eilts has experienced more than his share of bad weather.

This Former Storm Chaser Helps Airline Pilots Avoid Turbulence

An interview with Mike Eilts, senior vice president at DTN.

Cassini’s radar imager peered through Titan’s thick atmosphere, providing data to create a map of its surface.

Two Years After Its Demise, Cassini Yields the First Geologic Map of Titan

The global data will be useful to NASA planners preparing for a new mission to Saturn’s largest moon.

Soldiers use an M88A2 Hercules Recovery Vehicle to pull a truck from a deep puddle of mud during training. Soil moisture data from a NASA satellite could help prevent trucks getting stuck in the first place.

Before Getting Stuck on a Muddy Road, Check With This Satellite First

A NASA spacecraft helps Air Force drivers avoid messy, and possibly dangerous, delays.

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Bethany Ray and her dog Lili prepare for UH-1N Huey training.

Flight School for Dogs

At Fairchild AFB, canines learn to be good helicopter passengers.

Richard Browning launched himself from Britain’s largest aircraft carrier during the ship’s visit to Annapolis last November.

A British Marine’s Jet Suit Turns its Pilot Into a Real-Life Iron Man

A former Royal Marines reservist hopes his invention will kick off a new kind of racing.

This Jungmeister, YR-PAX (later N15696), was flown by aerobatic legends Alex Papana, Count Hagenburg, Mike Murphy, and Beverly “Bevo” Howard—who perished in the aircraft at age 57 when it crashed as he was flying in a charity airshow.

The Jungmeister, Built as a Luftwaffe Trainer, Once Ruled Air Racing

Flown by champions, it remains a favorite today.

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