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Air & Space Magazine

Undated photo of John Chapman, who served as a combat controller with the U.S. Air Force.

On a Snow-Covered Mountain in Afghanistan, John Chapman Made a Heroic One-Man Stand

A new book recounts the Medal of Honor winner’s story.

“A man can’t just sit around,” Larry Walters explained to a reporter when asked what made him decide to take a patio chair aloft.

How the Balloon-Borne “Flying Lawn Chair” Got Into the Smithsonian

In 1982, truck driver Larry Walters accidentally ended up 16,000 feet above the ground.

These fragments of a drone battery got the worst of a high-speed collision with an aluminum plate.

These People Get Paid to Shoot Drones From Cannons

The science of smashing UAVs.

Outside the Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh, Skyrora executive Owain Hughes views the hulk of the Black Arrow that his company brought home after it sat for 50 years in the Australian outback.

Britain Hasn’t Had a Rocket in Half a Century. Now the Black Arrow is Back.

The country’s only shot at a nuclear missile is inspiring a new shot at a future in space.

Israel’s first air force pilots didn’t have an enviable fleet of aircraft, but they countered this disadvantage with aggressiveness. The volunteers came from multiple countries, including South Africa and the United States.

The Czech Fighter That Helped Israel Win Its War of Independence

Battling for Israel, volunteers fought in an aircraft that should have been grounded.

Known as the “Potsdam Gravity Potato,” this visualization of variations in Earth’s gravity field is produced by Germany’s GFZ Earth science research center based on satellite and surface data. Gravity “highs” are red, “lows” are blue. The differences are due mostly to the different density of materials above or below the Earth’s surface.

How Satellites and Telescopes are Tracking the Effects of Global Change, Down to the Millimeter

NASA and other research agencies bring are bringing new tools to the science of geodesy.

The CH-47 is the U.S. Army’s only heavy-lifter. The newest model, the F, can carry up to 25,000 pounds of people, supplies, or equipment.

The U.S. Army’s Lift-Anything, Go-Anywhere Helicopter

Nobody forgets a ride on the CH-47 Chinook.

Goddard with his Hoopskirt rocket during a launch attempt in September 1928.

Robert Goddard’s 1928 Hoopskirt Rocket Was a (Very) Small Step to the Moon

A three-second flight to 204 feet may not sound impressive now, but it was a big deal then.

Professor Stavros Georgakopoulos holds several patents on origami antennas.

These Satellite Antennas Were Inspired by Origami

At Florida International University, students help invent a new kind of communications device.

In an artist's conception, Lockheed Martin's Orion reenters Earth's atmosphere.

NASA’s Orion Heat Shield: Old Materials, Applied With New Methods

Gone is the caulk gun-like technique dating back to Apollo.

Airports sometimes have obstructions. An infrared camera allows the C2Land system to work in foggy or hazy conditions.

Automated Landings—Even at Small Airports—Are About to Get Easier

A successful test in May could point the way to a system almost anyone could use.

A hot-pit allows aircraft to refuel without turning the engine off and quickly return to the air.

This Handy Trick Shortens Refueling Pit Stops for the F-35

An old-school solution for the military’s newest fighter.

The Sikorsky S-42 incorporated many innovations, based on input from Charles Lindbergh.

Pan American’s Samoan Clipper Went Missing More Than 80 Years Ago. Now a Search Team Hopes to Find It.

The researchers are using remotely operated vehicles to scan the seafloor almost two miles down.

Colonies of P. halocryophilus grown under perchlorate stress conditions look smaller and paler than normal colonies—but they’re still alive.

Could Earth Microbes Survive in a Martian Lake?

Seems unlikely. But we have yet to understand all the possibilities.

A natural color view of Titan and Saturn taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on May 6, 2012, at a distance of approximately 483,000 miles (778,000 kilometers) from Titan.

Dragonfly Spacecraft to Scour the Sands of Titan for the Chemistry of Life

The NASA rotorcraft, resembling a large quadcopter drone, will fly through the orange clouds of the ocean moon in the outer solar system

A variety of aircraft provided air support during the Woodstock festival.

Without Helicopters, There Wouldn’t Have Been a Woodstock

They delivered stranded performers to the 1969 music festival, and carried sick hippies out.

A Mega-Tsunami on Early Mars

Evidence for a much wetter and livelier planet, three billion years ago.

A Marine Corps EA-6B Prowler returns to Al Asad Airbase in Al Anbar province of Iraq after a mission. Prowlers provided support to U.S. and Allied forces in harsh conditions.

Saying Goodbye to the Prowler

To mark its retirement, some recollections from the people who knew the EA-6B best.

The K-Max helicopter demonstrated cargo delivery with unpiloted vehicles years ago. Could rescue operations be next?

The Air Force Wants An Air Taxi For Downed Pilots

Drones to the rescue

Fat Albert arrives at Traverse City, Michigan in 2018 with the crew chief (on top) spotting for any obstruction as it taxis on the tarmac.

Fat Albert’s Last Flight

Swan song for a C-130

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