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Air & Space Magazine

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Return Trip

Flight 1549 gets a tour of north Jersey.

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Discover this.

Up the East Coast in eight and a half minutes.

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TXT-Speak at the FAA

The Web site of the Federal Aviation Administration, like most government sites, is pretty tame, but can be an interesting browse for prop-heads

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High (really high) cuisine on the space station

Astronaut Sandy Magnus is something of a cook, apparently

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Silver, White, and Blue

Restored to shiny perfection.

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Get your used astronaut eyeglasses here

If collecting space memorabilia is your thing, check out the 2009 April Signature Space Exploration Auction

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Kepler’s Unusual Orbit

A couple more interesting things about the just-launched Kepler telescope

Astronaut Walter Schirra during the 11-day Apollo 7 flight in October 1968. Schirra and crewmates Donn Eisele and Walter Cunningham suffered flu-like symptoms, which many now believe were due to space sickness.

Sick in Space

It’s not just a problem for astronauts anymore.

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Kepler on deck

Fingers crossed for Friday night’s planned launch of the Kepler telescope to search for Earth-size planets around other stars

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A Special First

Sometimes, history just happens.

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Just keep rolling, just keep rolling

Cue the Lawrence of Arabia theme

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False start

Aerospatiale’s Concorde made its maiden flight 40 years ago this week

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What’s in a Name?

In this case, a belly laugh

A drawing showing the descent of the first manned hydrogen gas balloon flight, which departed from Paris, France on Dec. 1, 1783.

The First Solo Flight

Alone in a hydrogen balloon in 1783.

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Tough Spot

Doing what he has to for a good shot.

Bill Suitor takes flight in 1995 wearing the Rocketbelt 2000. Suitor was an experienced rocketbelt pilot, having flown one at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

The Rocketbelt Caper

A true tale of invention, obsession, and murder.

John Young at Plum Crater, Apollo 16, April 1972.

Human Spaceflight: What Value to Science? (Pt. 2)

Robots vs. astronauts

Jimmy Doolittle is dwarfed by the monstrous, menacing Gee Bee R-1 Super Sportster.

Bring Back the Brute

A GeeBee racer in flyable condition? Don’t do it.

Craig Breedlove’s Spirit of America Sonic 1 employed the transonic area rule via its high-waisted fuselage. Area ruling, which reduces drag at transonic speeds, enabled the early 1960s Convair F-102 to reach Mach 1.2.

The Bonneville Jet Wars

A California hot-rodder took on the feuding Arfons brothers in the 1960s.

British tycoon Sir Richard Branson (left) and maverick aerospace designer Burt Rutan are racing to put the first paying passengers into space — at $200,000 per 2 1/2-hour flight.

License to Thrill

Meet the first commercial rocketship pilots.

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