Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Air & Space Magazine

A scene from this year's Rocky Mountain Regional Fly-In.

Smoking Stearman

A scene from this year’s Rocky Mountain Regional Fly-In.

Astronaut Scott Parazynski is about to join an elite group of space travelers.

Fifth Time Up

Astronaut Scott Parazynski is about to join an elite group of space travelers.

Japan's Kaguya satellite snaps a high-definition photo of Earth on its way to the moon.

High Definition

Japan’s Kaguya satellite snaps a high-definition photo of Earth on its way to the moon.

A restored airliner with a truly impressive passenger list.

Tri-Motor at Oshkosh

A restored airliner with a truly impressive passenger list.

NASA's Dawn mission, due to launch this week, will orbit two asteroids.

Bound for Ceres

NASA’s Dawn mission, due to launch this week, will orbit two asteroids.

Japan launches its most ambitious space mission ever.

Kaguya Heads for the Moon

Japan launches its most ambitious space mission ever.

A close fly-by of Saturn's two-faced moon.

Target Iapetus

A close fly-by of Saturn’s two-faced moon.

A California artist celebrates the famed WW1 fighter.

Sopwith by the Bay

A California artist celebrates the famed WW1 fighter.

Launched 30 years ago today, it remains the most distant manmade object.

Voyager 1, Still Going

Launched 30 years ago today, it remains the most distant manmade object.

None

Space Tourism’s First Small Steps

Forty years ago, Pan American was taking reservations for the moon.

The Allegro's instrument panel displays basic flight instruments as well as a transponder and a combination radio/GPS receiver.

Fun Factor

We take a light sport aircraft for a test drive.

Sport pilots who choose to build the SeaRey kitplane can take off from and set down on both land and water.

20 Hours to Solo

Will a new pilot category restore the glory days of general aviation?

Paul DiMare's illustration of the Mach 20 Hypersonic Cruise Vehicle starts with a wireframe skeleton.

Picturing the Future

How a skilled artist fast-forwards to the hypersonic airplanes of 2025.

Target date 2025: A pilotless, Mach 20 Hypersonic Cruise Vehicle.

Mach 20 or Bust

Weapons research may yet produce a true spaceplane.

None

VIDEO: The Osprey in Flight

Half helicopter, half airplane.

Anousheh Ansari before her launch to the International Space Station in September 2006.

An X-Prize Sponsor and Space Tourist

Anousheh Ansari talks about trips to orbit, past and future

A four-place kitplane with a pusher propeller, the Velocity SE FG offered a sturdy off-the-shelf airframe for a rocket-engine modification.

X-Racers

Can aviation’s newest spectator sport lead to routine space travel?

In the Dreamliner's avant-garde cabin, one thing hasn't changed: Business class is better than coach.

How Boeing Put the Dream in Dreamliner

When aircraft designers wanted to make passengers feel happy, they turned to psychologists.

The developers of Cargolifter CL 160, a German design, used to say that their craft could carry 26,000 pounds of food to disaster victims. But the Cargolifter itself needs aid now; its parent company has declared bankruptcy.

Spy Blimps and Heavy Lifters

The latest thing in airships.

Researchers have been looking far and wide for biofuel sources, including switchgrass.

Fly Green!

Richard Branson and Boeing heap hope-and hype-on biofuels.

Page 277 of 320