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Air & Space Magazine

British Airways instructor Diane Pashley demonstrates how to put on an oxygen mask during a flight-safety course at BA’s training facility near Heathrow Airport. Passengers on real flights are often less attentive to safety briefings.

Coffee, Tea, or Emergency Response?

That Diet Coke is a courtesy. The real service your flight attendant provides? You never want to find out.

The case-throat‑nozzle assembly contained RocketMotorTwo’s polyamide solid-fuel supply. The oxidizer tank is not pictured.

Power for Space Tourism

Richard Branson donates an historic rocket motor to the Museum.

The Mars Helicopter, as shown in this artist’s conception, could pave the way for aerial reconnaissance of the Red Planet, exploring areas inaccessible to astronauts and rovers.

A Helicopter Dreams of Mars

Hitching a ride with the next NASA rover, a new explorer gets a chance.

Alaina Lewis with the 90-inch mahogany propeller she made for a Bristol F.2 Fighter, her most challenging job to date.

How to Make a Propeller in Six Days

Ask Alaina Lewis, proprietor of Culver Props, in Rolla, Missouri.

Cape Canaveral, Summer of ’69

Fifty years ago, a photographer pointed his camera at Apollo 11 spectators—and created an ode to America.

Pilots of No. 19 and No. 616 Squadrons—along with Flash the Alsatian and Rangy the spaniel—pose by a Spitfire. “How should you live if you are 20 and will be dead by the end of the summer?” asks Chaplain Guy Mayfield.

The Battle of Britain, Through a Chaplain’s Eye

Guy Mayfield’s diary records the hopes and fears of the young R.A.F. aircrews who risked their lives.

Did life arise on more than one world? Religious organizations are interested too.

The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Heats Up

Where do we stand, and what are the most promising leads?

The Apollo 11 crew boards the van for the launchpad, July 16, 1969.

“Apollo 11” Takes a Fresh Look at the First Moon Landing

In the new documentary “Apollo 11,” director Todd Douglas Miller uses rarely-seen archival footage to make the lunar mission feel vivid, tense, and recent.

The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft docked to the International Space Station.

SpaceX Looks Ahead to Launching Astronauts

The new Crew Dragon spacecraft could launch the first astronauts from U.S. soil in almost a decade

Suspected traces of a tunneling organism, 2.1 billion years ago.

Complex Life May Have Existed on Earth Much Earlier Than We Thought

Exciting new evidence from an ancient sea in Africa.

An artist's concept of the Beresheet lunar lander on the moon.

Israel’s Lunar Lander Blasts Off for the Moon

The Beresheet spacecraft will take weeks to reach lunar orbit, with landing on the surface scheduled for mid-April.

A mosaic of Mars images captured by the Viking Orbiter 1, which operated around the planet from 1976 to 1980. Valles Marineris, the largest canyon in the solar system, cuts across middle of the planet, stretching over 3,000 km long and up to 8 km deep.

With Opportunity Gone, Mars Researchers Look Ahead to 2020 Launches

Next year an international armada will head for the Red Planet.

Ask the bombardier beetle—or rather, its enemies—if hydrogen peroxide has any biological use.

Hydrogen Peroxide, Bringer of Life?

This familiar household item may be more important than we thought.

An artist's concept of the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity superimposed on a photo of Victoria Crater, taken by the rover.

So Long, Opportunity

After months of trying, NASA gives up on contacting its dormant Mars rover.

The traveling Starliner simulator. The real vehicle is just weeks away from its first test flight.

Test Driving the New Astronaut Taxi

In Washington, invited guests get a glimpse of a commercial spaceship.

The 20-pound lunar sample designated 14321, also known as "Big Bertha," was the third-largest rock returned from the Moon. Astronauts Alan Shepard and Ed Mitchell found it near the rim of Cone Crater during their second Apollo 14 Moonwalk.

An Ancient Rock From Earth—Found on the Moon

The puzzle over Apollo sample 14321

Visibility good.

Good News, Pilots—The Weather’s Getting Better

And cleaner urban air may be the reason.

Universities participating in NASA's Mars Ice Challenge try to devise innovative ways to drill for water on the Red Planet.

The Anthropocene Is Coming to Mars

Humans are about to extend their influence to a second world.

F-15Cs of the U.S. 48th Air Expeditionary Group fly Baltic rotations. Like Rick von Berckefeldt’s C model, they are air-to-air only: a singular threat in NORAD airspace, but a subtle signal in Europe that ground troops needn’t fear.

This F-15 Pilot Holds the NORAD Record for Interceptions

“For Whatever Reason, When I Was on Alert, They Flew.”

This scale model of a Boeing 707 is painted in the globally famous midcentury-modern livery of the Pan Am fleet.

Seven Oh Seven

The airplane that ushered in the Jet Age.

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