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Air & Space Magazine

Hydrothermal activity at Yellowstone National Park. Is this the kind of setting where life arose?

Darwin’s Ideas About How Life Arose on Earth May Be Right After All

The case for a land-based, hydrothermal origin

A new look at old film revealed what was going on in the dark during the Apollo 11 mission.

Historian Unveils Never-Seen Footage of Armstrong and Aldrin on the Moon

Amazing what you can find in the shadows, 50 years later.

We're taught to fear cyanide, but context is everything.

Cyanide—Poison or Bringer of Life?

Terrestrial biology may have gotten a boost from an unlikely source.

In 1959, when NASA was still picking its first astronauts, the U.S. Army was cooking up plans for a lunar base, under Project Horizon.

The Forgotten Plans to Reach the Moon—Before Apollo

In the years between Sputnik and JFK’s speech, the U.S. military did lots of thinking about how to pull off a lunar landing.

The Development Test Model for the two Voyager probes, which continue to transmit data more than 40 years after they were launched, was built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Our Far-Flung Voyager Spacecraft Just Keep Going and Going

Designed to explore the outer planets of the solar system, the 40-year-old twins have since traveled beyond it.

Because of their large size, eagle collisions can cause severe damage to aircraft, averaging $425,000 in repairs.

Bald Eagles ‘Like to Loaf Around’ at Airports, and That’s a Hazard

GPS tracking of the birds’ flight paths might offer a solution.

Radar imagery from the Cassini spacecraft confirmed in 2006 that methane lakes exist on Titan.

The History of Aviation and Spaceflight is the Story of Explorers

From the Director of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum

The Northrop Grumman EA-6, the only electronic warfare aircraft in the Museum's collection, was flown to the Museum in March by members of Marine Squadron VMAQ-2.

The Prowler Retires After 48 Years of Electronic Warfare—And No Combat Losses

The iconic Northrop Grumman EA-6B flies into history—and the National Air and Space Museum collection.

Pilots of all ages fly models of all types at Academy of Model Aeronautics clubs. The Academy also awards academic scholarships to graduating seniors who have been AMA members for three years. Among the pilots who got their start in model aviation: Neil Armstrong.

A Career Built on Flying Models

RJ Gritter of Aurora Flight Sciences explains why he loves his job.

Celebrating Airbus’s 50th

A formation flight for l’anniversaire d’or

IceCube used pressurized hot water to melt shafts and place sensors into the polar ice.

A Piece of IceCube Arrives at the Smithsonian

An Arctic sensor finally gets its day in the sun.

A shot of the Abbotsford International Airshow.

Acrobats of the Sky

The top aerobatic pilots show how seeing can still be unbelieving.

Based on her test flight aboard SpaceShipTwo, Moses says travelers can expect a safe but thrilling experience.

How to Be a Space Tourist

Beth Moses, the chief astronaut instructor at Virgin Galactic, will train the people who want to fly on SpaceShipTwo.

Military aircraft used Taiwan’s main highway as an airstrip during the annual Han Kuang defense exercises. Four sections of the freeway have been designated for emergency use.

How to Turn a Freeway into a Runway

Taiwan conducts an emergency drill to keep its aircraft flying.

Using a borrowed 500mm lens, 18-year-old photojournalist Kevin L. Alexander, reluctantly wearing a necktie, takes aim at Kennedy Space Center launch pad 39A a few hours before the Saturn V’s history-making flight.

This High Schooler May Have Been the Youngest Reporter to Cover Apollo 11

The week of my 18th birthday, I drove 1,100 miles to Kennedy Space Center to watch a Saturn V rocket launch men to the moon.

Along with her photo, Luxana Nil-Ubol sent a note thanking Neil Armstrong for keeping his promise to send a mission patch and photo.

How a Pair of Teenagers Sneaked in to Meet Neil Armstrong During His 1969 World Tour

Some people don’t take no for an answer.

In eastern India in 1944, Carter Harman (standing, left, next to his co-pilot) had the extremely rare job of helicopter pilot.The maintainers with him, members of the 1st Air Commando group, were among the first to service helicopters in the field.

In 1940s Burma, a New Kind of Flying Machine Joined the War: The Helicopter

Toward the end of WW2, the strange new craft became vital in guerrilla warfare.

An ascent stage lifts off from the moon, leaving the descent stage behind in this NASA depiction of a future human-rated lander. The agency says it’s open to other configurations, too.

To the Moon by 2024: Here’s the Plan

The first U.S. moonshot was done in a decade. Can NASA make it in half that time?

One of precious few purpose-built firefighting airplanes, a Bombardier CL-415 drops water on a fire in Simi Valley, California in November 2018. Over 870,000 acres of California land burned last year, according to Cal Fire.

The Pilots Who Fight California’s Wildfires

With a squadron of ancient airplanes, these firefighters are usually the first on the scene.

The Subaru Telescope in Hawaii is an early tester of advanced new detectors for astronomy.

The First Photograph of Another Earth

Astronomers are working today on the camera that will see habitable planets in other solar systems.

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